Budget to confirm housing package

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The chancellor is expected to confirm in this week's Budget a £50bn package of government guarantees to kick-start the housing market, reports say.

The deal would mean the Treasury offering to underwrite £50bn of new mortgage-backed assets.

The measures would boost extra lending being carried out by Northern Rock, Mr Darling told The Observer newspaper.

The government had already accepted a call in the Crosby report to provide billions of pounds in guarantees.

Mr Darling is also expected to make an announcement regarding stamp duty.

The last Budget raised the point at which a home-buyer starts paying stamp duty temporarily from £125,000 to £175,000. With the housing market still in a slump, this could be extended.

Separately, the prime minister and the Business Secretary Lord Mandelson are set to unveil a plan to help high-tech manufacturing firms on Monday.

Details are yet to be revealed but it is believed the scheme is intended to give UK companies a level playing field with overseas rivals.

A spokesman for the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) said the plan would a "strategic vision" for the economy.