There have been mixed reactions to government initiatives to increase investment in order to boost the economy, announced in the Budget. These include plans to invest £3bn in infrastructure projects, funded in part by cuts in Whitehall spending.

Richard Abadie, PwC global head of infrastructure, said: 'The announced sum is insignificant relative to the infrastructure backlog and while we welcome the announced £3bn of cost-savings from various government departments, the reality is it won't make a significant impact on economic growth as it comprises less than 0.2% of GDP.'

Richard Threlfall, KPMG head of infrastructure, building and construction, described the measure as 'disappointing'. He said it would 'make little difference in solving the UK's infrastructure challenge', which experts estimate needs at least £400bn of investment over the next 10 years.

Nick Prior, head of infrastructure at Deloitte, said: 'If infrastructure is to be the silver bullet for economic recovery, we need to see shovels hitting the ground on projects that have a real impact in driving growth sooner rather than later.'

There was more support for the Chancellor's 'Help to Buy' scheme, which Threlfall described as 'the perfect "get out of jail" card,' in terms of boosting the economy.

'By opening the scheme to all buyers of new-build houses up to £600,000 in value, the Chancellor has thrown the UK house building industry a new lifeline. Ultimately, the construction industry and all trades that support construction of new houses in the UK will benefit from the new scheme,' Threlfall said.

Jonathan Hook, PwC's engineering and construction leader, said: 'The commitment of £3.5bn to shared equity loans up to 20%, coupled with £130bn of mortgage guarantees is a big boost to the residential market. The Chancellor obviously believes this a quicker and cheaper way to get an economic boost than other areas of capital spend.'