UK Government debt hits record levels

UK Government borrowing reached a new peak in 2009-10 but undershot the figure forecast in the Budget.

Data released by the Office for National Statistics today shows that in March the public sector had a deficit of £14.8bn and net borrowing of £23.5bn. At the end of the month net debt was £890bn, equivalent to 62% of GDP. Net borrowing for the first quarter was £35.5bn, with net debt at £771.6bn, or 53.8% of GDP. Over the financial year April 2009 to March 2010, the public sector deficit was £107.6bn, almost £60bn higher than the previous year. Net borrowing was £152.8bn, and excluding financial interventions was £163.4bn. Jonathan Loynes, the chief European economist at Capital Ec...