UK set for best economic growth since 1973, says Rishi Sunak

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said the UK is on course to post the fastest gro­wth rate since 1973 this year as he started delivering a budget he said will help the nation bounce back from the pandemic.
 

Britain’s economy, which contracted almost 10 per cent last year, is set to grow 6.5  in 2021, according to a forecast from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility. That’s compared with a previous prediction of 4 per cent, and marks the biggest upgrade since at least the 1980s. 
 

The UK government confirmed it will tax the country’s largest property firms to help replace unsafe cladding in apartments that’s left thousands of people in potentially dangerous homes.
 

Sunak said the government will levy a 4 per cent tax on developers’ profits that exceed $34 million, in his budget speech. The money raised will help fund 5 billion pounds of investment toward repairs that some of the country’s largest housebuilders have also pledged millions of pounds toward. 
 

Just days before the UK will host key global climate change talks, Sunak promised to cut taxes on fuel and flying. Sunak said he wanted to encourage more people to take short-haul flights within the UK.