Bank rate held at 0.5%published at 12:01
Bank of England policymakers voted unanimously, external in March to keep interest rates on hold at 0.5%.
Summary
Institute for Fiscal Studies warns of another year of austerity
George Osborne hits back at critics
Labour says Budget is 'unfair' to those on low incomes
Small business groups hail Budget reforms
Questions about prospect of a surplus in 2020
Bank rate held at 0.5%published at 12:01
'Treasury will need to make biggest ever annual borrowing reduction'published at 11:51 Greenwich Mean Time 17 March 2016
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End of twitter post'Government accepts more borrowing for next few years'published at 11:51 Greenwich Mean Time 17 March 2016
Resolution Foundation director tweets...
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End of twitter post'Richest 20% gain £225 on average whereas poorest gain £10'published at 11:49 Greenwich Mean Time 17 March 2016
BBC political editor tweets...
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End of twitter postPoor lose out in Budget: Resolution Foundationpublished at 11:25
Resolution Foundation director Torsten Bell tweets:
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End of twitter postSoft drink shares slidepublished at 11:13
Image source, Getty ImagesIrn Bru maker A.G. Barr is the top faller on the FTSE 250 share index today, down 4.3% at 517p in the wake of the sugar tax announced by George Osborne in yesterday's Budget.
Shares in Britvic, whose factory the Chancellor visited last year, are down 2.23% at 683.5p.
Your view on the Budgetpublished at 10:59
What did you make of George Osborne's latest economic statement?
Media caption, Budget 2016: Your views and verdict
Bank of America casts doubt on austeritypublished at 10:46
Economics editor Kamal Ahmed tweets:
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End of twitter post 3Changes won't hit 'build-to-rent' sectorpublished at 10:34
Image source, Getty ImagesGráinne Gilmore, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, says the government’s decision to end exemptions for big investors in the "build-to-rent" sector is surprising, but is not likely to affect it too much.
“Bulk purchases of residential units at the lower value end of the scale will be most affected by the Chancellor’s move, which seems counter to the Government’s pledge to provide more affordable housing. But the rental market is an entrenched and growing part of the UK housing market, and as such, institutional investment in this asset class will likely continue to grow,” she says.
Swept awaypublished at 10:22
It's been a while since we had any attempt at humour on the Budget live page, so thanks to Ross Hawkins for this tweet:
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End of twitter postSterling risespublished at 10:11
Sterling recovered from a two-week low against a weaker dollar on Thursday, bolstered by the Budget that pushes back some austerity measures. The pound rose 0.3% to $1.4302, but underperformed the euro, falling 0.4% to €1.2651.
Investors now await a Bank of England interest rate decision at midday and the minutes of the monetary policy committee's last meeting.
FT's Martin Wolf gives his verdict on the Budgetpublished at 10:01 Greenwich Mean Time 17 March 2016
Veteran FT commentator writes:
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End of twitter postCoke comments on sugar taxpublished at 10:00 Greenwich Mean Time 17 March 2016
The Guardian's Sarah Butler tweets from the Retail Week Live conference:
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End of twitter postTrump 'as big a risk as terrorists'published at 09:55 Greenwich Mean Time 17 March 2016
Image source, Getty ImagesA slight break from our Live page UK budget coverage. Research group the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has said the prospect of Donald Trump winning the US presidency represents a global threat on a par with jihadist militancy destabilising the world economy.
In its latest version of its Global Risk assessment, the EIU ranked victory for the Republican front-runner at 12 on an index where the current top threat is a Chinese economic "hard landing" rated 20.
Tory MPs' protest over disability cutspublished at 09:53 Greenwich Mean Time 17 March 2016
Ross Hawkins
Political correspondentTory MP Andrew Percy sent a letter to the Chancellor protesting about the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) cuts the day before the Budget. He is not saying how many Tory MPs signed it but he says scores have either signed the letter or expressed concern.
Potential rebels think there's movement here and are very confident the government wouldn't get this policy through Parliament as is.
'Disability benefits row fizzing among Tories'published at 09:44 Greenwich Mean Time 17 March 2016
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End of twitter postUK on verge of 'tampon tax' dealpublished at 09:43 Greenwich Mean Time 17 March 2016
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4Britain is close to a deal with Brussels that would allow it to scrap the so-called "tampon tax", George Osborne told Today. The Chancellor said he expected an announcement "in the next few days" that the UK will be able to end VAT on women's sanitary products.
The move comes as the Government is facing a Commons revolt by Tory MPs demanding it acts unilaterally to withdraw the charge - in breach of EU rules.
"I perfectly understand people's anger at paying the tampon tax," he told Today. "I said we would get agreement that we could reduce this rate to zero. I think we are on the verge of getting that agreement. I think we are going to get that agreement in the next few days, we hope."
Oil industry 'to get £1bn tax credits'published at 09:27
Daily Politics presenter Andrew Neil tweets:
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End of twitter post'The big issue underlying the Budget is poor productivity'published at 09:25 Greenwich Mean Time 17 March 2016
BBC Scotland business and economy editor tweets...
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End of twitter postHear Osborne on Todaypublished at 09:17
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