Rishi Sunak is expected to announce the introduction of “green” savings bonds in today’s Budget. But how else might the chancellor seek to boost the green economy?

Caroline May, partner and EMEA head of environment at global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, said: “On the environmental side it’s likely the government will want to announce stimulus measures for a green economy to further its plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, and hopefully there will be room for this amongst the short-term pandemic-related measures that we’ll likely see.

“With the G7 only a few months away, and COP26 in November, now is the time for the government to start delivering on its promises.

“Although a carbon tax has been long-anticipated by commentators, the government will at the moment want to look at stimulus packages as the economy recovers from Covid-19 and in the run up to COP26, so it is likely that instead there will be some form of tax incentives for green energy and infrastructure, green technologies and products and most importantly green finance.

“Further detail on the much anticipated National Infrastructure Bank may form part of these measures.”

The government has released a photo of Rishi Sunak with his top team inside 11 Downing Street.

The chancellor is shown posing with, from left to right, the chief secretary to the Treasury, Steve Barclay, exchequer secretary to the Treasury, Kemi Badenoch, financial secretary to the Treasury, Jesse Norman, and economic secretary to the Treasury, John Glen.

Also in the photo are minister of state for efficiency, Theodore Agnew, PPS to Treasury, Claire Coutinho, PPS to the chancellor, James Cartledge, PPS to the chief secretary, Craig Williams and the government whip and Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury, David Rutley.

Today’s Budget is not the time for tax increases or measures to rein in public spending in response to soaring debt, an influential cross-party committee of MPs warned this week.

The report by the House of Commons Treasury Committee acknowledged that the UK’s public finances are currently on an “unsustainable long-term trajectory”, not only because of the £280bn cost of coronavirus support measures, but also because of the growing burden of an ageing population.

But it warned the chancellor that immediate fiscal consolidation measures – tax rises or public spending cuts – could undermine the economic recovery from lockdown.

The Treasury has been criticised for not handing out paper copies of today’s Budget, which journalists said were vital to ensure the multiple announcements in the chancellor’s statement to the Commons were properly scrutinised.

At the same time, Rishi Sunak’s department found the time and money for a Budget promo video that was mocked by critics as “vain” and more in keeping with a leadership election.

The chancellor will also use today’s Budget to announce a further £1.65bn for the UK’s roll-out of Covid vaccines.

The money, revealed at earlier this week, will also include a further £33m for vaccine testing and development to protect against future outbreaks and variants, as well as £22m for a study to test the effectiveness of combining different coronavirus vaccines and determine whether a third jab can improve protection.

Rishi Sunak plans to more than double the contactless card limit to £100, the Evening Standard reports.

The move is being billed as a boost for retailers as it will make larger payments easier, with shoppers avoiding having to put in their pin.

It would be the second time the limit has been increased after it rose from £30 to £45 last spring.

Ken Rogoff, a former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief economist, said he told Rishi Sunak the pandemic is a war-like situation where fiscal support should continue.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Rogoff said: “We’ve spoken once and, certainly at the time, and I’d say it now, we are in the middle of a war and you should not be worrying excessively about the budget deficit and about debt.

“You can worry about that at the other side.

“We are looking at catastrophe relief and we really need to be cautious about scaling back – the government is very much needed now.” 

At 12pm, Boris Johnson will hold the regular Prime Minister’s Questions.

This will be followed immediately afterwards at 12.30pm by the chancellor delivering the Budget in the Commons.

Then at 3pm, the Office for Budget Responsibility will hold a press conference, setting out the main judgments and conclusions in their Economic and Fiscal Outlook report.

Two hours later, at 5pm, Rishi Sunak will give a post-Budget press conference.

While the recovery is uncertain and interest rates low, it would be foolish to rush the process of deficit reduction, writes Vince Cable.

The chancellor says he wants to “level with the British people”. In words, maybe. But in deeds, not just yet.

Instead, he will try to ensure that there is post-Covid economic recovery by continuing to “do what it takes” to support loss-making businesses and jobs, and to stimulate consumer demand through the remaining months of an unwinding lockdown.

The new wave of freeports at the heart of Rishi Sunak’s Budget are unlikely to offer a “magic bullet” for boosting the UK’s economy, as their main impact will be to relocate  activity and jobs rather than creating them, a report has warned.  The main beneficiaries from the initiative will be the businesses and super-rich individuals who take advantage of the tax breaks they offer, while the public will bear the cost of the infrastructure required to make them function, said the report by thinktank UK in a Changing Europe.

And it was “simply untrue” to claim that they will transform the UK’s prosperity rather than give a boost to areas where they are located to the cost of other parts of the country without them.