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Rachel Reeves has ruled out reducing the annual tax-free allowance on individual savings accounts (ISAs) but did not refer to the cash ISA limit specifically.
There has been speculation that the chancellor might consider lowering the annual allowance on cash ISAs, in order to encourage more people to invest their money. Savers can currently put £20,000 tax-free into one ISA, or split this allowance across different types of ISAs, such as those in cash or stocks and shares.
When asked about the allowance on the latest episode of the BBC's Newscast podcast, Reeves said that she was "certainly not going to reduce that limit".
"I'm not going to reduce to limit of what people can put into an ISA," she said. "But I do want people to get better returns on their savings, whether that's in a pension or in their day-to-day savings, and at the moment a lot of money is put into cash or bonds, when it could be invested in equities, in stock markets and earn a better return for people."
Reeves said that this was one of the reasons the government was "looking at advice and guidance that financial firms can give to their customers ... to make sure that people are making informed decisions about how to invest their money."
"Whether that's their pensions, savings or their ISA savings, so those are things that we're looking at," the chancellor added. "I absolutely want to preserve that £20,000 tax free investment that people can make every year."
However, Reeves did not specifically refer to the cash ISA limit in her comments.
Read more: Pros and cons of lifetime ISAs
Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The fact there won’t be a change to the overall ISA limit is welcome in itself. The government has clearly been listening when it comes to the importance of choice, flexibility and information to support people making the best savings and investment decisions."
It has been reported that Reeves is preparing to launch a review of the ISA market to look at how to reform the savings wrapper.
"What is important now is that through the consultation process, there is some certainty over the cash ISA specifically," said Coles. "It’s an overwhelmingly popular product and the cornerstone of millions of people’s savings. They need to know they can rely on their allowances, so they can plan effectively."
"Investing for the longer term clearly offers enormous benefits, so your money works harder and your financial freedom is closer at hand," Coles added. "However, savers can’t be forced to invest by removing choice."