The climate in which George Osborne will make his third budget statement as chancellor of the exchequer on March 21st is far from balmy. But it is better than he could have hoped for in the stormy days of autumn. Britain's economy, which shrank in the final quarter of 2011, has revived this year, making it likely that the country will avoid another recession. Prospects for the country's main export markets, especially America, seem brighter. The recession in the euro zone, where two-fifths of British exports are sold, now looks likely to be fairly mild.
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