When is the spring statement – and what do you need to know about it?
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is poised to deliver an update on the health of the British economy on Wednesday.
The spring statement is not a formal budget – as Labour pledged to only deliver one per year – but rather an update on the economy and any progress since her fiscal statement last October.
Politics Hub: Follow live updates
While it’s not billed as a major economic event, Rachel Reeves has a big gap to plug in the public finances and speculation has grown she may have to break her self-imposed borrowing rules.
Here, Sky News explains everything you need to know.
What is the spring statement?
The spring statement is an annual speech made by the chancellor in the House of Commons, in which they provide MPs with an update on the overall health of the economy and Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts.
It is one of two major financial statements in the financial year – which runs from 1 April to 31 March.
The other is the autumn budget, a more substantial financial event in which the chancellor sets out a raft of economic policy for the year ahead.
Typically, the spring statement – which was first delivered by ex-chancellor Phillip Hammond in 2018 – gives an update on the state of the economy, and details any progress that has been made since the autumn budget.
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Sam Coates previews the chancellor’s announcements
What could be announced?
The government has already announced some big cuts – and there may be more to come.
Ms Reeves could decide to extend the freeze on thresholds at which people start to pay different rates of income tax, beyond the current freeze, which is due to end in April 2028.
The government could also raise the relief rate for struggling retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses after cutting it to 40% in the October budget.
The chancellor is expected to announce £400m in spending on the government’s new UK Defence Investment body to “harness UK ingenuity and boost military technology”, according to The Mirror.
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She has been called on to reduce the £20,000 tax-free annual limit on cash ISAs to £4,000 to encourage more people to invest their savings in stocks and shares – a move that could hurt cash ISA savers.
To read more on what is expected to be announced in the Spring Statement, and what has already been announced, check out Sky News political reporter Alix Culbertson‘s piece here.
When will Rachel Reeves deliver it?
The OBR, which monitors the government’s spending plans, will publish its forecast on the UK economy on 26 March.
It is required to produce two economic forecasts a year, but the chancellor said she would only give one budget a year to provide stability and certainty on upcoming tax changes.
The OBR will also provide an estimate on the cost of living for British households, and detail whether it believes the Labour government will adhere to its own rules on borrowing and spending.
The chancellor will then present the OBR’s findings to the House of Commons, and make her first spring statement.
This will be responded to by either Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch or shadow chancellor Mel Stride.
Rachel Reeves is looking to plug gaps in the UK’s finances. Pic: PA
Why does it matter?
The UK economy is thought to be underperforming – potentially due to global factors, like Donald Trump’s trade tariffs – and there are rumours that the chancellor could consider breaking her own rules on borrowing in response.
The economy contracted slightly in January, while inflation has climbed to a 10-month high of 3%. Meanwhile, the government has committed to boosting defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 – an expensive task.
Ms Reeves’s fiscal rules mean she cannot borrow for day-to-day spending – leaving cuts as one of her only options. Her other “non-negotiable” is to get debt falling as a share of national income by the end of this parliament.
It is expected that welfare cuts will be part of the spring statement package to help the chancellor come within her borrowing limit.
Our deputy political editor Sam Coates said earlier in March there would be a “four-point plan” involving planning reform, Whitehall cuts, regulation cuts and welfare cuts. The government has already announced NHS England will be scrapped.
In short, the Treasury believes Ms Reeves must maintain £10bn in headroom after months of economic downturn and geopolitical events since last October’s budget.
It is widely expected the OBR will confirm that this financial buffer has been wiped clean.
Read more:
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Where can I watch the spring statement?
The spring statement will be delivered in the House of Commons on Wednesday 26 March, directly after Prime Minister’s Questions, which is usually finished by around 12.30pm.
You’ll be able to keep up to date on Sky News – and follow live updates in the Politics Hub.
The token tied to the crypto gaming giant Immutable surged 15% in the hours after it announced that the US Securities and Exchange Commission closed its investigation into the firm and would take no further action.
The Immutable (IMX) token rose around 15% on March 25 to reach just under $0.74 shortly after the firm announced that the SEC shut its inquiry without any breach of violations, which Immutable said closed “the loop on the Wells notice issued by the SEC last year.”
IMX matched crypto market downtrend
It is the highest price that IMX has reached since March 3, before a broader market decline — driven by prolonged uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and US interest rates — pushed it down to $0.46 on March 11.
At the time of publication, IMX had retraced back to $0.67, according to CoinMarketCap. A move back toward $0.70 would wipe approximately $449,500 in short positions, according to CoinGlass data.
IMX is up 0.34% over the past 30 days. Source: CoinMarketCap
While the token price surged on the positive news, it barely moved when Immutable announced in November it had been issued a Wells notice. However, the broader market was already gaining momentum as Trump’s odds to win the election looked strong in the days before his eventual win on Nov. 5.
Immutable co-founder Robbie Ferguson said in a March 25 X post that the SEC’s dropped investigation was “an enormous win for Web3 gaming.”
“After a year of fighting, this threat to digital ownership rights has finally been put to rest,” Ferguson said.
Related: Crypto influencer Ben ‘Bitboy’ Armstrong arrested in Florida
Among the top gaming crypto tokens by market cap, several have seen an upswing over the past 24 hours. Gala (GALA) is up 2.78%, The Sandbox (SAND) is up 3.78%, FLOKI (FLOKI) is up 1.91%, and Axie Infinity (AXS) is up 1.50%.
IMX hit its all-time high of $9.32 in November 2021 during a major rally in gaming tokens. There’s been speculation about when gaming tokens will experience another significant uptrend, as they’ve historically surged after the broader crypto market moves first.
However, over the past 30 days, the total market cap of gaming tokens has dropped 3.65% to $13.13 billion, while trading volume has taken a bigger hit, falling 33.45% to $1.75 billion.
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This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
North Carolina lawmakers have introduced bills in the House and Senate that could see the state’s treasurer allocate up to 5% of various state retirement funds into cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
The Investment Modernization Act (House Bill 506), introduced by Representative Brenden Jones on March 24, would create an independent investment authority under the state’s Treasury to determine which digital assets could be suitable for inclusion into the state retirement funds.
An identical bill, the State Investment Modernization Act (Senate Bill 709), was introduced into the state’s Senate on March 25.
The bills define a digital asset as a cryptocurrency, stablecoin, non-fungible token (NFT), or any other asset that is electronic in nature that confers economic, proprietary or access rights.
The North Carolina bills don’t set market cap criteria for digital assets, unlike other crypto bills that are working their way into law at the state level.
Source: Bitcoin Laws
The newly created agency, dubbed the North Carolina Investment Authority, would, however, need to carefully weigh the risk and reward profile of each digital asset and ensure the funds are maintained in a secure custody solution.
Bitcoin legislation tracker Bitcoin Laws noted on X that House Bill 506 wasn’t drafted as a Bitcoin reserve bill as it does not mandate the investment authority to hold Bitcoin (BTC) — or any digital asset — over the long term.
North Carolina wants in on Bitcoin bill race
On March 18, North Carolina senators introduced the Bitcoin Reserve and Investment Act (Senate Bill 327), which calls for the treasurer to allocate up to 10% of public funds specifically into Bitcoin.
The bill — introduced by Republicans Todd Johnson, Brad Overcash and Timothy Moffitt — aims to leverage Bitcoin investment as a “financial innovation strategy” to strengthen North Carolina’s economic standing.
Related: GameStop hints at future Bitcoin purchases following board approval
The treasurer would need to ensure that the Bitcoin is stored in a multi-signature cold storage wallet, and the BTC could only be liquidated during a “severe financial crisis,” with approval from two-thirds of North Carolina’s General Assembly.
The bill would also create a Bitcoin Economic Advisory Board to oversee the reserve’s management.
According to Bitcoin Law, 41 Bitcoin reserve bills have been introduced at the state level in 23 states, and 35 of those 41 bills remain live.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, both of which will initially use cryptocurrency forfeited in government criminal cases.
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The US Securities and Exchange Commission will host four more crypto roundtables — focusing on crypto trading, custody, tokenization and decentralized finance (DeFi) — after hosting its first crypto roundtable on March 21.
The series of roundtables, organized by the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, will kick off with a discussion on tailoring regulation for crypto trading on April 11, the SEC said in a March 25 statement.
A roundtable on crypto custody will follow on April 25, with another to discuss tokenization and moving assets onchain on May 12. The fourth roundtable in the series will discuss DeFi on June 6.
A series of four crypto roundtable discussions are scheduled from April through to June. Source: SEC
“The Crypto Task Force roundtables are an opportunity for us to hear a lively discussion among experts about what the regulatory issues are and what the Commission can do to solve them,” said SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, the task force lead.
The specific agenda and speakers for each roundtable have yet to be disclosed, but all are open for the public to watch online or to attend at the SEC’s headquarters in Washington, DC.
SEC softens on crypto with new leadership
The agency’s Crypto Task Force was launched on Jan. 21 by acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda. It’s tasked with establishing a workable crypto framework for the agency to use.
The task force held its first roundtable on March 21 with a discussion titled “How We Got Here and How We Get Out — Defining Security Status.”
The SEC will also be hosting a roundtable about AI’s role in the financial industry on March 27, according to a March 25 release.
Join us on March 27 for a roundtable discussion on artificial intelligence in the financial industry. Topics include the risks, benefits, and governance of AI.
More details: https://t.co/ekX2RWp2KQ pic.twitter.com/7fH3j1tlwj
— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) March 25, 2025
The roundtable will discuss the risks, benefits, and governance of AI in the financial industry, with Uyeda, Peirce and fellow SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw slated to speak.
Under the Trump administration, the SEC has slowly been walking back its hardline stance toward crypto forged under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
The regulator has dismissed a growing number of enforcement actions against crypto firms it launched under Gensler.
Related: Bitnomial drops SEC lawsuit ahead of XRP futures launch in the US
Uyeda, who took the reins after Gensler resigned on Jan. 20, flagged plans on March 17 to scrap a rule proposed under the Biden administration that would tighten crypto custody standards for investment advisers.
Uyeda also said in a March 10 speech that he had asked SEC staff for options to abandon part of proposed changes that would expand regulation of alternative trading systems to include crypto firms, requiring them to register as exchanges.
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