Budget main points

Main points from the Chancellor's Budget this afternoon are:

Growth forecast for this year halved to 6%

Further £11.5 billion of cuts in government spending ordered in public spending, with schools and NHS exempt

Public sector pay limited to 1% except the military

£3 billion a year extra for infrastructure from 2015/16

Fivefold increase in government procurement contracts

Corporation Tax slashed from 21 to 20%  from April 201

Working families to receive up to £1,200 per child for child care

Launch of two-fold Help to Buy Scheme (1) £3.5 billion for shared equity loans up to 20% of the value of a new home up to £600,000 (2) Mortgage Guarantee to lenders for people who can’t afford big deposits, with £130 billion available over three years starting in 2014

Fuel duty rise for September scrapped

Beer duty escalator scrapped with a further 1p cut in duty on beer from Sunday night

Personal tax allowance raised to £10,000 from April 2014

Up to £2,000 cut from employer National Insurance contributions

Capital Gains holiday extended

Bank of England keeps 2% inflation target

Chancellor called it a “budget for an aspirational nation.”

Read the full Budget statement at: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget2013_statement.htm