By Richard Johnstone | 21 March 2012
Public sector borrowing hit a record £15.2bn in February, £6.3bn higher than the same month a year ago, the Office for National Statistics revealed today.
The bulk of the increase – £5bn – was accounted for by central government but borrowing also rose by £800m in local government, according to the ONS’s provisional estimate of last month’s public spending.The total is the highest borrowing on record for the month of February, excluding the cost of the bank bailouts.
In the 11 months so far of the current financial year, the government has borrowed a total of £110bn, £8.9bn less than in the same period in 2010/11.
On the day that Chancellor George Osborne will present his Budget to the House of Commons, the ONS figures show the government is closer to hitting the £127.1bn forecast for borrowing for the year.
The January prediction from the Office for Budget Responsibility had indicated borrowing for the year could be £7bn less.
Government net debt, also excluding the bailed-out banks, is just below £1 trillion at £995bn, equivalent to 63.1% of gross domestic product.
Debt passed the £1trn milestone in December, but was reduced following January’s £7.8bn surplus, when the government raised more in tax revenues than it spent.
