The UK's finance minister Rishi Sunak has set out billions of dollars in extra spending, after forecasts for the country's economic growth were raised.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, to give his formal title, announced $200bn extra spending across all government departments by 2024/2025. There's more money for schools and for health services. He's making changes to the Universal Credit benefit payment which Sunak says will save lower income households hundreds of dollars a year. Sunak is also ending a public sector pay freeze - although it's not yet clear what level salary increases will go to workers.

Rishi Sunak is able to announce these measures, and others, at a cost of billions of dollars, partly because the economy is performing better than previously expected.

The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) says the UK economy is now forecast to return to pre-COVID-19 growth levels next year - earlier than it had previously forecast. UK GDP is now expected to grow 6.5 percent this year, which is also significantly more than previous OBR estimates. All of that means more revenue coming in to government coffers. 

Unemployment is also lower than the OBR thought it would be - and that means less expenditure needed on benefits.

However, the opposition Labour Party say the government hasn't done enough to end what it calls a "cost of living crisis." 

Rachel Reeves, Labour's finance spokesperson, accused Sunak of "living in a parallel universe." 

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Rishi Sunak did admit in his budget statement that inflation is going to remain stubbornly high, and can't be brought lower overnight. He also acknowledged recent supply chain issues in the UK economy but insisted similar problems are being reflected all over the world because of the pandemic.

There was a controversial announcement on air passenger duty which will be cut for domestic flights. That's being criticized by climate campaigners just days before the UK hosts the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

Rishi Sunak presented his budget statement in a packed House of Commons in London and his announcements were enthusiastically welcomed by Conservative lawmakers around him. Rachel Reeves responded for the opposition Labour Party because her leader Keir Starmer tested positive for COVID-19 just before.