Rishi Sunak unveils his first Budget; announces 30 bn pound stimulus package to combat coronavirus

Britain's Indian-origin Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak unveiled a 30-billion pound package on Wednesday to tackle the "temporary disruption" from the coronavirus outbreak as he declared that while the going will be tough for some as a result of the added impact of the crisis, the UK economy is well placed to pull through.

Sunak, the 39-year-old MP who tabled his first Budget in the House of Commons, was cheered on by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel just behind him on the ruling Conservative benches as he announced that his Budget had taken the party's election pledges into account to get things done.

He warned of a "significant" but temporary disruption to the UK economy.

"We will get through this together," said Sunak, the son-in-law of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, as he unveiled the 30-billion pound package of measures as a stimulus to cope with the "temporary disruption" to the economy from the coronavirus crisis.

"For a period, it's going to be tough. But I'm confident that our economic performance will recover," he said.

The minister said that as the country deals with COVID-19, the Budget provides security today but also sets out a plan for prosperity tomorrow.

"It is a Budget that delivers on our promises to the British people. It is a Budget of a government that gets things done, he said.

"We are doing everything we can to keep this country and our people healthy and financially secure," he told MPs.

The hedge fund manager turned politician stressed that his maiden Budget was brave and bold because it lays out mega investment plans for different parts of the UK as a non-member of the EU.

He said: "This is the first Budget of a new decade. The first in almost 50 years outside the European Union. And the first of this new government.

"At the election, we said we needed to be one nation. While talent is evenly spread, opportunity is not we need to fix that We promised to get Brexit done, and we got it done."