He told the packed House of Commons that the UK’s economic growth has exceeded Germany by two and a half times and France by seven times.
According to the Office for Budget Responsibility UK GDP will grow by 3% in 2014, 2.4% in 2015, 2.2% in 2016, 2.4% in 2017, and 2.3% in 2018 and 2019.
Osborne said “warning lights are flashing over the global economy”, adding that “Britain cannot be immune to the risks in the global economy”.
The Chancellor told the house that the government has created half a million new jobs over the past year.
The unemployment rate is forecast to fall by 5.4% next year before settling at 5.3%, while wage growth will increase above inflation for the next five years.
According to Osborne the UK deficit has been cut in half since the coalition government came to power, yet he added “it is still too high”.
The government borrowed £91.3bn this year compared to £97.5bn last year, while in the next few years it is expected to borrow £75.9bn, £40.9bn and £14.5bn before the UK has a surplus of £4bn in 2018-2019.
The government will also encourage peer-to-peer lending by expanding the British Business Bank, while the Funding for Lending scheme will be extended by a further year for SMEs.
Stamp Duty was reformed from a tiered to a progressive system, which is similar to income tax.
