Category Archive: Monthly public finances release

Borrowing in the first three months of 2023-24 totalled £54.4 billion, £12.2 billion above the same period last year but £7.5 billion below the monthly profile consistent with our March forecast. This downside surprise is more than explained by higher central government receipts (£7.7 billion above profile) thanks to surpluses across the three major taxes…

Public sector net debt stood at 100.1 per cent of GDP in May 2023, topping 100 per cent of GDP for the first time in 62 years. Borrowing in the first two months of 2023-24 totalled £42.9 billion, almost double the same period last year and £2.1 billion above the monthly profile consistent with our…

Borrowing in April 2023 of £25.6 billion was £3.1 billion above our March 2023 forecast profile – thanks to both slightly lower-than-expected receipts and slightly higher-than-expected spending – and almost double the £13.7 billion figure from a year ago. This year-on-year increase largely reflects higher inflation pushing up spending on debt interest payments (£3.1 billion…

We have published monthly profiles for receipts, spending and borrowing in 2023-24, consistent with our March 2023 Economic and fiscal outlook, below and alongside our monthly commentary on the public finances.

The initial full-year estimate of government borrowing in 2022-23 is £139.2 billion, an £18.1 billion increase on the 2021-22 figure but £13.2 billion lower than our March forecast. This difference was driven by central government spending (£8.1 billion lower than forecast), local authorities net borrowing (£3.2 billion below forecast) and public corporations net borrowing (£6.9…

Government borrowing in February 2023 was £16.7 billion, up £9.7 billion on last year, largely thanks to spending on energy schemes. Year-to-date borrowing of £132.2 billion is up £15.5 billion (13.2 per cent) on last year. But it is only up £6.9 billion (5.9 per cent) on a like-for-like basis (correcting for student loans figures…

While not a statutory obligation of the OBR, the publication of monthly profiles for the public sector finances consistent with our most recent EFO is something we started doing in May 2020, shortly after presenting our initial Covid reference scenario in the early weeks of the pandemic. Given the extraordinary pressures that the pandemic was…

January is a big month for tax receipts, with self-assessment (SA) payments due. At £35.1 billion, SA receipts exceeded our November forecast by £5.8 billion (partly reflecting timing effects). Alongside large downward revisions to borrowing in previous months, this has left year-to-date borrowing in the first ten months of 2022-23 £22.0 billion below our forecast…

Borrowing in the first nine months of 2022-23 was £128.1 billion, up £5.1 billion on last year but £2.7 billion below our November forecast profile in the headline figures and £11.3 billion below profile on a like-for-like basis (correcting for a temporary difference in student loans figures in our forecast profile versus ONS outturn). This…

Borrowing in November was £22.0 billion, the highest November figure since monthly records began, largely thanks to a sharp rise in public spending due to the cost of energy and cost-of-living support schemes introduced this year. Borrowing in the first eight months of 2022-23 was £7.8 billion below our November forecast profile published today, largely…