George Osborne election budget: Chancellor's opening shots fired ahead of general election

George Osborne delivered an electioneering budget that had the upcoming general election clearly in mind, according to IBTimes UK chief economics commentator William Keegan.

In his final budget before May's general election, Osborne boasted Britain was "growing faster than any major economy in the world", with living standards on course to be higher than pre-recession levels and more jobs than ever before. On top of this, the chancellor announced a string of cuts to fuel and beer duty, and a rise in personal allowances to £10,800 in 2016 and then £11,000 after that.

But Keegan, who has been providing immediate analysis of the budget announcement, says most of the measures announced by the chancellor "will be forgotten" and his various shout outs to regions across the UK came across as clear targeting by the Tories of marginal seats ahead of the general election.

Keegan added it was "too early to say" if the budget announcement will be enough to help David Cameron and the Conservative's return to power after the election, maintaining with only a few weeks to go, the race was still wide open.