- LONDON: Britain’s public borrowing has surpassed the highest level ever recorded for the month of April — dealing a blow to the government’s much-hyped deficit reduction plans.
The Office for National Statistics said Tuesday that public borrowing, excluding financial interventions such as bank bailouts, hit 10 billion pounds ($16 billion) in April, compared with £7.3 billion the previous year.
That’s far higher than economists’ forecast of around 6.5 billion pounds, casting doubt on whether the Conservative-led coalition government can meet its target of bringing the budget deficit down to £122 billion this year.
The Statistics Office said tax receipts in April last year were boosted by a one-off tax on bankers’ bonuses that brought in 3.5 billion pounds.