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UK public sector borrowing spiked to in February, numbers on Friday showed, to the fourth-highest level since records began. According to the Office for National Statistics, public sector borrowing amounted to £10.71 billion last month, slightly higher than £10.58 billion a year prior. Numbers in January had showed a surplus of £13.32 billion, due to tax receipts usually being higher that month. ‘The current budget deficit - borrowing to fund day-to-day public sector activities - was £3.3 billion in February 2025; this was £1.0 billion less than in February 2024 and the lowest February deficit since 2022,’ the ONS said. ‘Borrowing in the financial year to February 2025 was £132.2 billion; this was £14.7 billion more than at the same point in the last financial year and the third highest financial year-to-February borrowing since monthly records began in 1993.’ The ONS noted that the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast that public sector borrowing would total £127.5 billion for the whole of the financial year ending this month. An updated OBR forecast with come on Wednesday, the day of the UK government’s spring economic statement. Public sector net debt, excluding public sector banks, stood at 95.5% of gross domestic product at the end of February. The ONS said it remains at ‘levels last seen in the early 1960s’. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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