By Richard Johnstone | 21 October 2014
Public sector borrowing was £58bn for the first six months of 2014/15, up more than £5bn from the same period the previous year, figures from the Office for National Statistics has revealed.
Credit: iStock
The latest figures also show monthly borrowing was £11.8bn in September, an increase of £1.6bn on the same month in 2013.
The £5.4bn in extra borrowing in the year so far is due to an increase in the central government deficit of £11.4bn, which is mostly the result of lower payments from the Bank of England's quantitative easing programme over the period.
In 2013/14, there were £31.1bn of transfers from the Asset Purchase Facility to the Treasury, but there has only been £4.6bn moved so far in the current financial year.
Overall, central government receipts in the year to date are £287.1bn, down 0.4%, while expenditure – both current and capital – was £344.1bn, an increase of 3%, higher than the same period in 2013/14.
However, the higher Whitehall spending has been partly offset by a £6.5bn surplus in local government in the first six months of the year. This mainly reflects lower net investment in this financial year, offset by the timing of grant payments from central government that are lower in the year to September, the ONS stated.
