CHANCELLOR DELIVERS SPRING STATEMENT AMID RISING COST OF LIVING

The chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered his Spring Statement yesterday amid concerns about the rising cost of living. He announced a five pence per litre cut in fuel duty and removed VAT on households installing energy efficiency materials such as solar panels or heat pumps. Mr Sunak also announced a rise in the income threshold at which point people start paying National Insurance and pledged to cut the basic rate of income tax by one percentage point before the end of this parliament (BBC News).

The chancellor said he would consult with business about how best to cut taxes to boost investment ahead of the autumn Budget, with a range of options being considered (Financial Times).

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has calculated that the impact of high inflation and planned tax increase will hit disposable incomes by an average of £500 (Telegraph). The OBR has also forecast that household energy bills will increase to around £2,800 a year from October when the energy price cap is reviewed again (The Times). Mr Sunak is seen as having banked tax revenues to enable him to offer tax cuts ahead of the next election (Financial Times).

WESTERN LEADERS MEET TO DISCUSS NEXT STEPS ON RUSSIA

Western leaders are gathering in Brussels today for a series of three summits to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. There are meetings of NATO, the G7 and the EU all taking place. Joe Biden will join all of them, which would be the first ever visit by a US president to an EU summit in Brussels (BBC News). Speaking ahead of the meetings, Boris Johnson has said countries need to look at whether more can be done to prevent Russia accessing gold reserves (Reuters). Separately, the Moscow Stock Exchange will partially reopen today for trading following it being closed for nearly a month (Telegraph).

NEWS IN BRIEF

Flexible working is a deciding factor for significant numbers of young employees in choosing whether to accept a job, according to a survey by Kantar (The Times).

Households could end up funding £2.4 billion of payments to energy suppliers that took on customers from firms that collapsed, Ofgem told the business, energy and industrial strategy select committee (Guardian).

A report from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has found the UK is lagging behind in plans to support electric vehicles, including that the number of publicly available recharging points per electric car on the road is declining not growing (The Times).

London remains Europe’s leading financial services centre, according to Z/Yen Group’s global financial centres index (CityAM).