In a statement, Hunt said he had commissioned an Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast, which will be included in the budget.

These financial forecasts will show how long the UK is expected to remain in a recession while the budget will attempt to soften the cost-of-living crisis.

The announcement comes just a month after the Autumn Statement, and three months after the disastrous ‘mini Budget’.

In a written statement, Hunt said: “Today I can inform the House that I have asked the OBR to prepare a forecast for March 15 2023 to accompany a Spring Budget.

“This forecast, in addition to the forecast that took place in November 2022, will fulfil the obligation for the OBR to produce at least two forecasts in a financial year, as is required by legislation.”

Hunt became chancellor in October, after Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked by former Prime Minister Liz Truss.

Pressure to help households while bringing down inflation

In November, he gave his Autumn Statement, which reversed most of the announcements made in the September ‘growth plan’ by the former chancellor and attempted to calm financial markets after the turmoil caused by the earlier announcement.

There is mounting pressure on the government to act to help those struggling with rising costs and to lower the level of inflation during the current economic crisis.

It is also being called on to act amid a wave of strikes by public sector workers including nurses, ambulance workers, and Royal Mail staff.

The Spring Budget will also be delivered just before the Energy Price Guarantee rises, pushing up bills to an average of £3,000 a month from April.