Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling has been urged to boost enterprise and jobs in Wednesday's Budget.

The CBI employers’ organisation said the economy was deeply troubled and the Budget should target jobs and investment.

Malcolm Hyde, the CBI’s south east director, based in Sevenoaks, said: "Given falling tax revenues, the shrinking economy, and alarming levels of government debt, we urge the Chancellor to avoid any further major fiscal boosts in the Budget.

"Budget measures should be targeted on jobs and investment, with a focus on efficiency savings and public service reform."

In its latest quarterly survey, the CBI said the UK recession deepened more than expected in the first three months of this year.

But it forecast the worst may be over, with future quarterly results not as bad as the first quarter, with the expectation the recession to ease in the second half of 2009.

However, the CBI cautioned that recovery would be slow and fragile, with GDP growth resuming only in the spring of 2010.

Mr Hyde said: "The UK economy remains deeply troubled, and the first quarter of this year has been tougher than expected.

"Firms have been running down their stocks of completed goods, and that is having a real impact on output, jobs and investment. Anxious consumers are spending less and building a savings buffer.

"In these turbulent times it is difficult to build a clear picture of how the economy will perform, but there are a few tentative signs that the steepest phase of the recession is now behind us, and that the banking packages, aggressive monetary policy and fiscal support will steady the pace of decline from here on.

"The recession is by no means over, but we will see a return to very weak growth by spring 2010."

Meanwhile, Nick Jones, head of services for entrepreneurs and private companies at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Gatwick, covering Kent and Medway clients, called on Mr Darling to use his Budget to back long-term business growth, entrepreneurial investment and job creation.

He said: "I would suggest the Chancellor looks at UK enterprise in the same way many businesses are at the moment; asking what steps they can take now to ensure they come out of the downturn in a stronger position than their competitors."