UK Chancellor Sunak prioritizes NHS, skills and leveling up in Budget windfall – FT

“Rishi Sunak will use this week’s Budget to shore up the UK’s fragile public finances, while focusing remaining resources on the NHS, the ‘levelling up’ agenda, skills and helping hard-pressed families,” said Financial Times (FT) in the latest news.

Key quotes

The chancellor is expected to be given a short-term Budget windfall by the Office for Budget Responsibility, which is set to upgrade its forecasts to show stronger growth in 2021 and 2022.

Sunak will use some of this fiscal boost to pay for key government priorities — including helping families through a cost-of-living crunch this winter — but he will also bank some of it as insurance against future economic shocks.

The chancellor admitted on Sunday that Britain’s public finances were more exposed to changes in interest rates than most other advanced economies, while the Covid crisis remains a threat to the economy.

Sunak’s Budget will also deliver cash for the government’s levelling up agenda, including £150m of funding for regional “angel investors” to help small businesses outside London access early funding.

FX implications

GBP/USD fails to react to the positive news, staying pressured around 1.3750 amid the early Asian session on Monday.