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Cumulative public sector net borrowing

Higher inflation pushes debt interest spending up sharply

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…

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Fiscal risks and sustainability 2022 due 7 July

Our two biennial reports on the long-term sustainability of the public finances (Fiscal sustainability report) and fiscal risks facing the UK (Fiscal risks report) will be combined into a single annual report for the first time this summer. Our first report on Fiscal risks and sustainability will be published on Thursday 7 July. The 2022…

Line chart showing cumulative public sector net borrowing

Cash tax receipts outperform our forecast in April

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)…

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Welfare trends report – May 2022

The pandemic caused the deepest recession in the UK in living memory, prompted the largest fiscal policy response outside the World Wars, and has, so far, been followed by an unusually rapid economic recovery. The past two years also reshaped welfare spending and can be expected to continue to do so. So this year’s Welfare…

Welfare trends report due 24 May

Welfare trends report to be published on 24 May

Our latest Welfare trends report (WTR) will be published at 11am on Tuesday 24 May. Our biennial WTR examines the drivers of welfare spending. This year’s report will focus on changes in non-pensioner welfare spending during and after recessions, comparing the pandemic to the previous three UK recessions in the past half-century.

Cumulative borrowing chart

2021-22 budget deficit exceeds March 2022 forecast

The initial full-year estimate of government borrowing in 2021-22 is £151.8 billion, less than half the 2020-21 figure but £24.0 billion above our March forecast (and £16.7 billion above it on a like-for-like basis). This surprise relative to forecast is largely due to higher-than-expected central government spending, which outweighed stronger-than-expected receipts. The like-for-like surprise could…

Overview of the March 2022 Economic and fiscal outlook

Two years since the start of the pandemic, this Economic and fiscal outlook (EFO) is presented against the backdrop of another unfolding global shock. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is foremost a human tragedy and a reminder of the terrible costs of wars and the immense and immeasurable losses for those caught up in them….

Policy costings document March 2022

March 2022 All but two policy costings presented to the Office for Budget Responsibility at Spring Statement 2022 were scrutinised and were certified as reasonable, central estimates were included in our forecasts. The Government’s Spring Statement 2022 policy costings document briefly describes the methodologies underpinning these costings. In our March 2022 Economic and fiscal outlook we have…

Cumulative borrowing chart

January tax receipts and debt interest far exceed forecasts

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…

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Supplementary forecast information release

Since the publication of our October 2021 Economic and fiscal outlook (EFO) we have received a request for further information on the super-deduction costing. We have published this new supplementary forecast information below and on the October 2021 EFO page.

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Supplementary forecast information release

Since the publication of our October 2021 Economic and fiscal outlook (EFO) we have received a request for a further breakdown of the Health and social care levy costing. We have published this new supplementary forecast information below and on the October 2021 EFO page.