This is the lowest net borrowing since the financial year ending March 2008.
Today’s sector finances bulletin for March shows public sector net borrowing (excluding public sector banks) increased by £0.8bn to £5.1bn in the month of March 2017, compared with March 2016; this is the highest March borrowing since 2015.
The data on borrowing comes after ONS figures revealed the UK’s inflation remained at 2.3% in March, unchanged from February - above the Bank of England’s target of 2%.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast that public sector net borrowing (excluding public sector banks) would be £51.7bn during the financial year ending March 2017.
Public sector net debt (excluding public sector banks) was £1,729.5bn at the end of March 2017, equivalent to 86.6% of GDP; an increase of £123.5bn (or 3 percentage points as a ratio of GDP) on March 2016, according to the ONS figures.
While public sector net debt (excluding both public sector banks and Bank of England) was £1,612.3bn at the end of March 2017, equivalent to 80.7% of GDP; an increase of £49.1bn (or a decrease of 0.7 percentage points as a ratio of GDP) since March 2016.
Central government net cash requirement increased by £0.4bn to £61.1bn in the financial ending March 2017, compared with the financial year ending March 2016; this is the highest financial year central government net cash requirement since the financial year ending March 2015.
