Hunt likely to save spending spree for polling day, not budget speech

The economy has improved since Jeremy Hunt made his autumn budget statement in the Commons on 17 November. Photograph: Jessica Taylor/AFP

Jeremy Hunt is under pressure to be generous when he delivers his first budget speech since he became chancellor last October.

The public finances have improved dramatically from the chaotic days that followed Liz Truss’s mini-budget in September, which rocked international money markets and sent interest rates on government debt soaring. The cost of financing Britain’s debt has fallen in recent months and the cost of gas on wholesale markets has tumbled.