London
Hunt’s juggling act: Jeremy Hunt (pictured), the chancellor, “didn’t have a lot of space to offer treats for voters”, says Susannah Streeter of Hargreaves Lansdown. Hunt had warned prior to delivering his Spring Budget speech on Wednesday that gloomy forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had reduced his “fiscal headroom” for tax giveaways. However, the OBR did raise its expectations for the economy to expand 0.8% this year, 1.9% the next and 2% in 2026, while annual consumer price inflation is forecast to fall to the Bank of England’s 2% target in just two months’ time, from 4% at present. In any case, this being an election year Hunt had to come up with something – all without spooking the bond market. Ten-year gilt yields dropped back on what was a “pretty muted response to a budgetary hat… [that] was notably short of surprise rabbits”.
A “British individual savings account” (Isa) is to be introduced, allowing for an additional £5,000 to be invested in UK-listed equities, on top of the existing £20,000 Isa allowance. “Increasing
