UK borrowing rises by more than expected on higher debt bill
The UK’s borrowing bill rose in April on the back of stubbornly high inflation forcing up the government’s debt interest payments.
Official figures showed that public sector borrowing climbed to £25.6 billion last month, up from £13.7 billion in the same month last year and overshooting forecasts from the government’s independent watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility.
The OBR in March projected borrowing to be at £22.4 billion in April on the back of higher government investment. Independent economists had projected a figure closer to £18 billion last month.
The Office for National Statistics said it was the second highest April borrowing on record, outstripped only by the one in 2020, in the depths of the pandemic. It said that borrowing was driven up by
