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Chancellor George Osborne has abandoned targets to restore government finances to a surplus by 2020.

It had been the chancellor's most prized goal and had been driving austerity measures in previous budgets.

It is thought that the government will raise borrowing, so it can avoid further cuts in spending or raising taxes.

Paul Johnson, director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, told Mark Mardell that this was "not the end of austerity."

(Photo: George Osborne. Credit: Getty Images)