Chancellor: War on inflation is turning economy around

He insisted yesterday he was now significant more bullish about Britain's economic performance than when he became Chancellor 13 months ago.

Mr Hunt credited halving inflation from its "terrifying" peak last year for the change in fortune.

In a speech to business leaders before tomorrow's crunch autumn statement, he said: "I feel a lot more positive about the UK economy than I did a year ago when I came in.

"The biggest reason is because we have managed to halve inflation...11.1% inflation, which it was this time last year, is terrifyingly high.

"We've had to do some very difficult things to get it back under control but I hope now people can see we are making progress on that. I will be focusing on growth."

Mr Hunt's fiscal statement includes measures to boost business investment. He said the UK's productivity was 15% lower than Germany's, partly due to skills training - which he claimed the Government was addressing through better technical education - but also a lack of capital investment.

He told the Confederation of British Industry: "What you will see on Wednesday... there's a range of measures designed to unlock business investment and close that gap with countries like France, Germany and United States."

He also promised further measures to encourage domestic pension funds to invest in the UK.

The Chancellor said: "We have got the second biggest pension fund ecosystem in the world.

"But for various historic reasons, there are too many barriers that prevent them investing in some of the biggest domestic opportunities."