2020 United Kingdom budget

The 2019 United Kingdom budget was delivered by Oliver Letwin, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on Thursday, 19 March 2020. This was Letwin's first budget as Chancellor, and the first budget of the Osborne government formed after Osborne's succession of David Cameron as Conservative leader and Prime Minister.

Background
In 2020, the UK economy was facing increasing uncertainty with fears that the worsening COVID-19 pandemic in China could potentially result in a recession, although it was yet to spread widely outside of China by this point. Chancellor Letwin said in a statement prior to the budget that this would not cause him to "alter course from the direction under Cameron" - towards lower spending and a smaller state - but that he would not hesitate to step in should the situation worsen.

The OBR projected that the economy would grow by 1.7% in 2020, revised significantly downward from their previous projection of 3.4%. Growth was projected at 2.4% for 2021, 2.8% for 2022, and 3% for 2023 and 2024. Inflation was expected to fall to 1.3%.

Key measures

 * Stamp duty was simplified to a flat threshold of £400,000 for all properties.
 * Business rates were suspended for two years.
 * £5bn of additional funding was allocated to the NHS.
 * A "temporary coronavirus business interruption loan scheme" for banks to offer loans of up to £1.2m to support small and medium-sized businesses.
 * Alcohol duty was to be temporarily cut to 20p for a year.
 * The 40% income tax threshold was raised to £80,000.