All firms which make more than £250,000 in profit will pay 25% tax on their profits from April.

Hunt attempted to ease the pain for smaller companies by increasing the Annual Investment Allowance to £1m meaning firms can deduct the full value of all their investment from that year’s taxable profits.

He said that every single pound a company invests in IT equipment, plant or machinery can be deducted in full and immediately from taxable profits.

The Chancellor has made tackling inflation his top priority with the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasting a fall to 2.9% by the end of this year from the current 10.1%.

The OBR also confirmed no technical recession in the UK this year and steady growth across the economy in the coming years of 1.8% in 2024, 2.5% in 2025, 2.1% in 2026 and 1.9% in 2027.”

Hunt confirmed plans for 12 new investment zones each with the potential to become “a new Canary Wharf” alongside an extra £200m for the annual pothole fund.

The budget was announced to a background of the Stock Market tanking with the FTSE 100 down 3% by Wednesday lunchtime.