According to a Telegraph report, sources inside the Treasury have confirmed that the chancellor's statement will include the announcement of a "£10bn credit lifeline" aimed at increasing lending to small businesses.

The £10bn fund was first proposed in October, when the chancellor announced that loans made by high street banks to sound SMEs could be bundled and sold as bonds to the Bank of England in a process he described as "credit easing".

The chancellor is also expected to announce a £20-30bn infrastructure investment scheme, backed by loans from institutional investment in the private sector, to fund projects including roads, rail links, ports and super-fast broadband.

Other business-boosting announcements include the shelving of plans to force all SMEs to launch auto-enrollment pension schemes for their employees. The government will also cut a planned 8% rail ticket price hike due to come in in January to 6% and could freeze or delay a 3p rise in fuel duty, also scheduled for January.

The new growth measures come against the backdrop of declining economic performance in the UK and across the eurozone, with OECD predicting this week that the UK will slip back into recession at the beginning of next year.