Delivering his first Budget as the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak announced plans for more than £600bn for infrastructure projects over five years.

Mr Sunak presented the first Budget of the new UK Conservative government this afternoon (Wednesday 11th March), which was dominated by measures being made to take action that is coordinated, coherent and comprehensive to tackle the impact of Coronavirus COVID-19.

The Chancellor said: “There is likely to be a temporary disruption to our economy. On the supply side, up to a fifth of the working-age population could need to be off work at any one time.

“And business supply chains are being disrupted around the globe. This combination of people being unable to work... and businesses being unable to access goods… will mean that for a period our productive capacity will shrink.

"There will also be an impact on the demand side of the economy, through a reduction in consumer spending.”

Mr Sunak did however enthuse that the significant impact of COVID-19 on the UK economy will be temporary, saying: “People will return to work. Supply chains will return to normal.”

The budget promised to level up the UK, and included plans that will see Britain experience its biggest Budget spend in 40 years on roads, railways and broadband. Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the investment as an “infrastructure revolution”.  

Rishi Sunak promised a gross amount of more than £600bn for capital spending by the middle of 2025 and said that this investment will lead to the "highest levels [of investment] in real terms since 1955".

The chancellor said: "We have listened and will now deliver on our promise to level up the UK, ensuring everyone has the same chances and opportunities in life, wherever they live.

"By investing historic amounts in British innovation and world-class infrastructure, we will rebalance opportunities and lay the foundations for a decade of growth for everybody."

The government is also set to pledge £2.5bn to fixing potholes in England as part of the Budget. The Treasury said the funding package would also be available to local authorities to start resurfacing works, preventing potholes from appearing in the first place.

Some of the key pledges made by Chancellor Sunak included: £5bn emergency response fund to support the NHS and other public services against the Coronavirus; duties on spirits, beer, cider and wine to be frozen; £5bn to get gigabit-capable broadband into the hardest to reach places; and the total investment in flood defences to be doubled to £5.2bn over next five years.

Other highlights for the logistics and transport industry included:

• Fuel duty to remain frozen for another year
• The largest ever investment in English strategic roads, with over £27 billion between 2020 and 2025
• Enough funding to fill in around 50 million potholes across the country
• Unprecedented investment in urban transport, with £4.2 billion for five-year, integrated transport settlements for eight city regions on top of £1 billion allocated to shovel-ready transport schemes
• £500m to support the rollout of new rapid charging hubs
• A new £2.5bn pothole fund
• £5bn of new export loans for businesses
• Plans to increase public R&D investment to £22 billion per year by 2024-25
• An extra £900m for research into nuclear fusion, space and electric vehicles
• A Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Infrastructure Fund to establish CCS in at least two UK sites, one by the mid-2020s, a second by 2030
• Investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure, which will ensure that drivers are never more than 30 miles from a rapid charging station
• £532 million for consumer incentives for ultra-low emission vehicles, and reduces taxes on zero emission vehicles
• £304 million to help local authorities reduce nitrogen dioxide emissions and improve air quality