The budget deficit continues to fall year on year, with April-to-June borrowing of £55.4 billion down £5.7 billion on last year. But it was £3.7 billion above our most recent forecast profile, largely reflecting higher spending, alongside modestly lower receipts. Debt interest spending hit a record high – for both the single month of June…
Category Archive: Monthly public finances release
Higher inflation delivers record debt interest spending
21 July 2022 | Monthly public finances release
The budget deficit continues to fall year on year, with April-to-June borrowing of £55.4 billion down £5.7 billion on last year. But it was £3.7 billion above our most recent forecast profile, largely reflecting higher spending, alongside modestly lower receipts. Debt interest spending hit a record high – for both the single month of June…
Higher inflation pushes debt interest spending up sharply
23 June 2022 | Monthly public finances release
The budget deficit continued to fall in May, with year-to-date borrowing of £35.9 billion down £6.4 billion on last year. But it was £6.4 billion above our most recent forecast profile. This overshoot reflects both lower receipts and higher spending – with debt interest spending in the year to date a fifth higher than forecast…
Cash tax receipts outperform our forecast in April
24 May 2022 | Monthly public finances release
The budget deficit continued to fall in April 2022, with borrowing of £18.6 billion down £5.6 billion on last year and just £0.6 billion below our most recent forecast profile. By contrast the more timely data from cash receipts were particularly strong, up 18.5 per cent on last April and £6.4 billion (10.2 per cent)…
January tax receipts and debt interest far exceed forecasts
22 February 2022 | Monthly public finances release
January is a big month for tax receipts, with self-assessment (SA) payments due. This year’s relate to 2020-21 liabilities – a year affected by both lockdowns and huge fiscal support. At £26.8 billion, SA receipts exceeded our forecast by £7.8 billion. That helped take the year to date receipts surplus relative to our October 2021…
Budget deficit falling sharply thanks to strong tax revenues
25 January 2022 | Monthly public finances release
Government borrowing in December 2021 was £16.8 billion, down £7.6 billion on December 2020. Year to date borrowing of £146.8 billion is down 46.8 per cent on the same period last year and is £13.0 billion below our October forecast profile. That undershoot reflects stronger than expected receipts (thanks largely to a more resilient labour…
Budget deficit continues to fall sharply
21 December 2021 | Monthly public finances release
Government borrowing in November 2021 was £17.4 billion, down £4.9 billion on last November. Year to date borrowing of £136.0 billion is down 46 per cent on the same period last year and is £7.1 billion below our October forecast profile. That undershoot reflects stronger than expected receipts (thanks largely to a more resilient labour…
Budget deficit down over £100 billion so far in 2021-22
19 November 2021 | Monthly public finances release
Government borrowing in October 2021 was £18.8 billion, down £0.2 billion from last year. But year to date borrowing of £127.3 billion is down £103.4 billion (44.8 per cent) on the same period last year. This reflects the economic recovery boosting receipts and the lower cost of pandemic-related support schemes, but is partially offset by…
Borrowing continues to undershoot forecast
21 September 2021 | Monthly public finances release
Government borrowing in August 2021 was £20.5 billion, down £5.5 billion from the same month last year. Year to date borrowing of £93.8 billion is now £31.9 billion below our March forecast profile. That reflects both stronger than expected receipts (thanks largely to a faster than expected economic recovery) and lower than expected spending (due…
Borrowing continues to fall faster than expected
20 August 2021 | Monthly public finances release
Government borrowing in July 2021 was £10.4 billion, down £10.1 billion from the same month last year. Year-to-date borrowing of £78.0 billion is now £26.1 billion below our March forecast profile. That reflects both stronger-than-expected receipts (thanks largely to a faster-than-expected economic recovery) and lower-than-expected spending (due to the faster-than-expected unwinding of covid-related government support).
Budget deficit continues to fall faster than expected
21 July 2021 | Monthly public finances release
Government borrowing in June 2021 was £22.8 billion, down over 19 per cent from last year. Year-to-date borrowing of £69.5 billion is now £19.0 billion below our March forecast profile. That reflects both stronger-than-expected receipts (consistent with the faster economic rebound in recent months) and lower-than-expected spending (perhaps reflecting continued shortfalls in spending on pandemic-related…