The criteria has changed so 2.7m more people will get the money automatically knocked off their bills.

Analysts predict cuts to come later in the year, but say the Bank rate is likely to remain at 4.25% for now.

The announcement comes as Trump pressures big technology firms to increase manufacturing in America.

The announcements on Thursday focussed on what the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones called a "soaring maintenance backlog".