British budget to help middle earners

British chancellor George Osborne has said he will use his 2012 budget to help those at the bottom of the earnings ladder, hinting he could go further in lifting more people out of paying income tax.

He also said yesterday that the eurozone crisis and high oil prices posed a threat to the global economy.

“My priority is to help low and middle earners. That is where the bulk of the effort in the budget is going to be,” he told the BBC. “We want to see real and substantial progress on lifting low-income people out of tax.”