Treasury still likely to hit deficit forecast - PwC

The Treasury could still hit its budget deficit target for the year despite worse-than-expected January public borrowing figures, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says.

Figures released this morning show a budget deficit (PSNB) for January 2010 of £4.3bn, compared to a £5.3bn surplus in January 2009. Analysts had expected a better showing after a couple of months in which the budget deficit has come in lower than expected. January is also traditionally the peak month for tax revenues, but these were down by nearly 8% on a year earlier, despite the 1 January VAT rise, with income tax and capital gains tax receipts taking a hit. Public spending also bounced back in January after being relatively low in December. For April 2009 to January 2010, th...