In a speech to business leaders in Hong Kong, Osborne called for an increase in exports, but insisted the situation remained “unbalanced” and that cuts to the national debt had to continue, the BBC reports.

It comes after the Bank of England upgraded its UK growth forecast for 2014 from 2.8% to 3.4%.

Labour said Mr Osborne’s policies had “choked off” recovery.

The chancellor will deliver his Budget on 19 March, following a recent run of good economic news, with unemployment down and the revised growth forecast.

However, the Bank’s governor, Mark Carney, said the recovery so far had been “neither balanced nor sustainable” and required continued support.

Experts have raised concerns that improvements are too dependent on consumer spending.