Budget 2009: Forecasts for 2009 remain

Wednesday, 22 April 2009 12:00 AM

The chancellor made a shock announcement in his budget today by saying he would be sticking to his 2009 forecasts.

He said he would protect more than 500,000 jobs in the economy.

"There can be no quick fixes, there can be no overnight solution," he said.

The economy would shrink by 3.5% in 2009, as expected.

He said he expected growth would begin at the end of the year, ahead of other major world economies. He expected growth to be 1.25 per cent in 2010 and said it would rise to 3.5 per cent in 2011.

He expected the the debt to halve within four years.

Tags:
• budget
,
• economic policy
,
• economy
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• economy and finance