The small business sector welcomed less red tape

Mr Brown's pre-election spending plans included raising the stamp duty threshold to �120,000.

He also unveiled plans to cut regulation and red tape surrounding companies in an effort to boost economic growth.

CBI Scotland said that the move showed that the chancellor had been listening to their concerns.

Director Iain McMillan said: "He has given some assistance to small businesses, encouraged research and innovation, and promised to reduce red tape.

"And we are relieved that he is not going to impose punitive windfall taxes on the oil and financial services industries."

KEY MEASURES Stamp duty threshold increased to �120,000 Council tax rebate of �200 for pensioners Petrol duty frozen Tax break for the first �7,000 of savings in ISAs extended to 2010 4p on cigarettes, 1p on beer, duty frozen on spirits Key points at-a-glance Q&A: What it means for you

Richard Laverick, of financial experts Ernst & Young, said: "There were welcome words on entrepreneurship and support for the smaller business sector, together with a strong message on stability."

He added that less regulation for smaller businesses was welcome but that there was disappointment over no increase being made to corporate tax thresholds.

The STUC welcomed the Budget but raised a word of caution.

General secretary Bill Spiers said: "We support practical measures that help business comply with clear, efficient and effective regulation but we will be vigilant in ensuring that important safeguards in areas such as health and safety are not weakened."

Meanwhile, shop owners hit out at the 7p rise on a packet of cigarettes.

The chancellor delivered a carefully measured Budget

Fiona Barrett, Scottish spokeswoman for Retailers Against Smuggling and a Glasgow shopkeeper, said: "This is yet another black day for independent shopkeepers up and down the country who have seen their sales dwindle over the past year as a result of the effects of tobacco smuggling.

"When will the chancellor realise that tobacco smugglers are plaguing the streets of Britain because the high levels of taxation on tobacco in the UK creates a huge difference in price between tobacco here and elsewhere?"

But anti-tobacco organisation Ash Scotland insisted the rise was still not big enough.

Chief executive Maureen Moore said: "Scotland particularly needs radical action on tobacco to reduce our world beating rates of cancer and heart disease.

"An above-inflation increase would do much more to cut rates of cancer and heart disease."

Also in his Budget, Mr Brown doubled the level at which house buyers pay stamp duty to �120,000.

But while the Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre welcomed the move, it said the chancellor had not raised the stamp duty bar high enough.

HAVE YOUR SAY I think that the changes to the stamp duty threshold will make a big difference, particularly in Scotland and the north Caitlin, Glasgow Send your reaction

Spokesman Simon Fairclough said the market in Edinburgh could do with a higher margin to keep in line with recent growth.

He added that if the government had kept pace with the market since the last rise, the level would now be between �160,000 and �170,000.

The Royal Bank of Scotland group's chief economist Dr Andrew McLaughlin said prudence had won out in a popular, but inexpensive, pre-election Budget.

"The higher threshold will have the greatest effect on the housing markets of Scotland and northern England, where a higher proportion of transactions are in the sub-�120,000 bracket," he said.

Under other measures, North Sea oil and gas companies will have to pay corporation tax three times a year instead of four, netting the chancellor more than �1.1bn in the forthcoming tax year.

A spokesman for the UK Offshore Operators Association said there would be no overall increase in their tax burden.

But he said the loss of interest would initially cost the industry about �13m, rising to �25m a year in subsequent tax years.