Fund Manager View: Julian Chillingworth

George Osborne pulled no punches in his first Budget. There were few major surprises in his mix of public sector cuts and tax increases, as the spin machine had leaked most of the important changes. Just to recap: the structural deficit is expected to be cut from 11% of GDP to 1% over five years – just about believable. Growth for this year is forecast to be 1.2%, and 2.3% next year. CPI inflation is forecast to run at 2.4% and 1.9% over the next two years respectively (2.7% this year). Public sector net borrowing of £149 billion is forecast to fall to £37 billion by 2014/15. A bank levy...