Summary Osborne has already unveiled plans to overhaul energy levies in a bid to lower household bills.
LONDON (AFP) - Britain s economy will grow faster than expected as it outpaces the neighbouring eurozone, finance minister George Osborne is expected to reveal in a budget update this week.
Osborne will deliver his so-called autumn statement before parliament at 1115 GMT on Thursday, when he will also stick to the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government s deficit-slashing strategy.
Britain is enjoying a solid economic recovery thanks to a booming property market and rebounding consumer expenditure despite ongoing state austerity.
"In the autumn statement I will say the job is not yet done because we have got to make sure we go on taking the difficult decisions to secure the recovery," Chancellor of the Exchequer Osborne said on Sunday.
The key Conservative minister pledged to deliver a "responsible recovery", playing down the prospect of any major tax giveaways or spending commitments.
Osborne has already unveiled plans to overhaul energy levies in a bid to lower household bills.
The move was aimed at countering a pledge from the opposition Labour party to freeze electricity and gas prices, should it win a general election due in mid-2015.
The Confederation of British Industry, which represents employers, has called on Osborne to support business investment and overhaul business rates.
Alongside Thursday s update, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) watchdog is set to upgrade its forecasts for growth and borrowing.
Six months ago, the OBR cut its 2013 economic growth forecast, blaming the impact of the eurozone debt crisis. Gross domestic product (GDP) was expected to grow by just 0.6 percent this year, followed by 1.8 percent in 2014 and 2.3 percent in 2015.
Since March, however, the nation s economic recovery has strengthened with third-quarter growth of 0.8 percent -- the fastest rate in more than three years.
"With the economy expanding at its fastest pace in thirteen quarters, George Osborne will no doubt enjoy delivering his autumn statement this time around," Daiwa economist Emily Nicol told AFP.
"The growth forecasts of just 0.6 percent in 2013 and 1.8 percent in 2014 published by the OBR just six months ago seem bound to be revised up, to around 1.5 percent and 2.5 percent respectively."
The 17-member eurozone is meanwhile predicted to shrink 0.4 percent this year, before rebounding to grow 1.1 percent in 2014 and 1.7 percent in 2015, according to recent European Commission forecasts.
Nicol added that firmer British growth would increase taxation revenues and curb the deficit further.
Recent data showed that state borrowing fell in October, boosted by rising property taxation revenues as a result of recovering house prices.
The government is likely to undershoot its �120-billion borrowing target in the current 2013/2014 financial year, which runs from April to March.
"Rising tax receipts and higher growth forecasts will mean the Chancellor lowers his borrowing forecasts in the 5 December autumn statement," agreed Berenberg s chief UK economist Rob Wood.
"But George Osborne will probably be more Scrooge than Santa, and bank most of the fiscal improvement."
The coalition government, headed by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, has sought to slash spending and hike taxes since coming to power more than three years ago. It inherited a record public deficit from the previous Labour administration.
Britain is a member of the European Union but not of the eurozone, but the single currency bloc is its major trading partner.
On Thursday, the Bank of England is also widely expected to maintain its key interest rate at a record low 0.50 percent, where it has stood since March 2009 in an attempt to stimulate the recovery.
The central bank is also set to maintain its so-called quantitative easing stimulus, which is aimed at boosting lending and stimulating growth.
