Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will deliver the 2024 Spring Budget on 6 March, the government has confirmed.

The Budget will include the government’s tax and spending plans as well as new growth and borrowing forecasts.

It could be the last chance for the government to announce significant changes to tax policy before the general election. Mr Hunt is expected to announce pre-election tax cuts at the Budget. The Chancellor used his last big fiscal speech, the Autumn Statement, to extend tax breaks for business and cut National Insurance contributions (NICs).

The Chancellor said that 2024 is the year ‘when we need to throw off our pessimism and declinism’.

He added: ‘There’s a reasonable chance that if we stick to the course we’re on, we’re able to bring down inflation, the Bank of England might decide they can start to reduce interest rates.’

The Office for Budget Responsibility has been formally commissioned to publish economic forecasts on 6 March