Budget 2020: read the small print on spending pledge, urges IFS

Thinktank praises Covid-19 response but says 'splurge' relies on already announced plans

Rishi Sunak's first budget is not as generous as it seems and many Whitehall departments will still be worse off than they were before the spending squeeze began in 2010, according to Britain's foremost economics thinktank.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the chancellor made the budget sound more substantial than it was, while relying on previously announced spending plans.

Related: An end to austerity? It's a nice line - but one budget can't undo the damage | Simon Wren-Lewis

Related: Sunak's spending plan will increase net debt by 125bn, says OBR