Government borrowing hits record high for February

UK government borrowing data has struck an unwelcome tone ahead of this afternoon's Budget, after February figures were far worse than expected.

Excluding the effect of government support for UK banks, public sector net borrowing in February stood at £15.2bn, almost double both the consensus forecast (£8bn) and last February's deficit (£6.9bn). The figure represents the largest February amount on record, according to Dow Jones, and was driven by a slowdown in tax receipt growth as well as higher spending from government departments. At £110bn, public sector net borrowing for April 2011 to February 2012 remains £8.9bn lower than the £118.9bn figure seen for the corresponding period in 2010/11. "It now looks like borrowing wi...