The Chancellor, John Healey, is expected to pay for new Budget measures, including a cost-of-living package, through higher taxes or spending cuts rather than more borrowing. The Financial Times reported this on 14 October, according to Reuters.
The FT also reports that Mr Healey is expected to drop planned fuel duty rises of 3p a litre in January and 2p in March, alongside a targeted package for winter fuel bills.
Citing people briefed on the preparations, the paper says the Budget will be "scorecard positive" in 2029/30. That means any additional discretionary spending is fully funded.
According to the FT, the Iran war has put extra pressure on the public finances and left less headroom against the fiscal rules. Reuters notes that those rules require day-to-day spending to be met by tax revenue and debt to fall as a share of GDP, and that last year's deficit was 4.4% of GDP.
The Treasury has not confirmed the measures. A Treasury spokesperson said:
"The Chancellor has been clear that fiscal discipline underwrites every promise this Government makes, which is why he and the Prime Minister are in lockstep on meeting the fiscal rules"
The reported measures will only be confirmed when the Budget is delivered on Wednesday 28 October.