Budget 2009 is looming. With less than a week to go until Chancellor Alistair Darling stands up to deliver his second Budget speech (on Wednesday 22 April 2009 - look for our live report here on Employment Intelligence), the volume of predictions as to what we can expect is mounting daily.
Press coverage is going into overdrive, with a wealth of predictions (see the briefings from the BBC and the Financial Times on their websites today), wish lists ("a freeze on alcohol and tobacco duties, to allow people at least the option of drinking and smoking their way through this miserable downturn" anyone?), and general doom-mongering (see any national newspaper) piling up.
So before the leaks and speculation that we are sure to get this weekend, I've pulled together the hints we've had so far from government (please feel free to add to the list via the Comments box below). These suggest that the Chancellor will be:
• slashing his growth predictions for 2009 (to -3% according to the Times);
• radically revising upwards the estimates of public borrowing in the Pre-Budget Report 2008, which themselves were massively revised upwards (£78bn for 2008/09 and £118bn for 2009/10) - less a hint from government than unavoidable reality;
• setting a target to create 400,000 "green jobs" over the next five years, the Independent was told;
• giving a "budget cash boost" to poorer families in a "mini-fiscal stimulus to kick-start the economy and protect the vulnerable"; if pre-G20 leaks to the Guardian are to be believed;
• announcing a "scrappage" or "cash-for-bangers" scheme whereby motorists will get £2,000 towards the cost of a new car for trading in an old polluting one (on the BBC website); and
• introducing a state guarantee scheme to underpin supply-chain insurance for firms, according to the FT.
And don't forget some key proposals on tax in Pre-Budget Report 2008 (see our write up - subscription required) for future years - but which could of course be scrapped, delayed or increased:
• The cutting back/scrapping of income tax personal allowances for those earning over £100,000 and £146,475 respectively from April 2010;
• From April 2011 a new 45% rate of income tax on incomes above £150,000; and
• Increases of 0.5% to employer, employee and self-employed national insurance rates from April 2011.
Let's wait and see what the weekend's papers can add to the list.
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