Chancellor George Osborne unveils Budget for "growth and jobs"

But he announced a cut in growth forecasts amid continuing bad economic news.

Mr Osborne promised help for families with the cost of living and high oil prices, and the economic stability he said is needed for sustainable growth.

He said that despite inheriting a record deficit, the Budget would not be a tax-raising package - though he warned: "Nor can we afford a give-away."

He said the Office for Budget Responsibility had downgraded predictions of growth for this year from 2.1% to 1.7%, blaming a weaker-than-expected final quarter of last year, the rise in commodity prices and the higher-than-expected inflation.

He said the OBR expects inflation to remain between 4% and 5% for most of this year, before dropping to 2.5% next year and then to 2% in two years' time.

The black hole in the public finances will be greater than previous OBR predictions, coming in at £122 billion next year instead of £117 billion, he said.

It will then fall to £101 billion the year after, to £70 billion in 2013-14, then to £46 billion and to £29 billion by 2015-16, Mr Osborne said.

Follow today's Budget with our live blog by experts from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the global body for professional accountants from 12noon.

Our bloggers:

Gillian: Gillian is Head of Public Sector for ACCA responsible for developing policy on technical matters affecting public services and monitoring developments. She has worked for the Audit Commission where she was a Senior Policy Advisor with expertise in corporate governance, financial management and human rights and equalities.

Manos Schizas: Manos is a policy adviser with ACCA's SME (small and medium enterprises) Unit. He is editor of ACCA's Quarterly Global Economic Conditions Survey, the largest quarterly survey of professional accountants in the world.

Glenn Collins: Glenn is ACCA UK's Head of technical advisory. He and his team provide technical and business support to accountants. Glenn has been with ACCA for 10 years having previously worked for 17 years for a firm of accountants and business advisors.

Chas Roy-Chowdhury: Chas is Head of Taxation at ACCA. He is secretary to the ACCA Taxation Committee and is in regular contact with many Government departments such as the HM Revenue and Customs through formal committees and ad hoc meetings.

John Davies: John is Head of Technical and Head of Business Law at ACCA. He has a special interest in company law, insolvency and pensions matters and prepares ACCA's representations in these areas to Governments and standard-setting bodies in the UK, Ireland, Europe and globally.