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The United Kingdom Government borrows excessive expectations in March and in full fiscal year, in an obstacle for Chancellor Rachel Reeves while the economy faces the impact of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The absence between government and expense revenue was £ 16.4 billion last month and £ 151.9bn in 12 months to March, the Office of National Statistics said on Wednesday.
This is compared to a £ 16 billion deficiency from economists in March. The figure for the full fiscal year was £ 20.7 billion more than in the same 12-month period a year earlier and £ 14.6BN more than the 137.3bn £ Budget Liability Office, the government fiscal guards. It was also the third highest level of loan in record for a full fiscal year.
Darren Jones, the main secretary of the Treasury, said the government was “passing through every penny of the spending taxpayer’s money, line for the first time in 17 years to remove waste”.
“We are concentrated in the laser to make sure that taxpayers’ money is giving our plan to change missions to put more money in people’s pockets, rebuild NHS and strengthen our boundaries.”
Mel Stride, the Shadow Chancellor, accused Reeves of “fiddling fiscal rules” and increased borrowing by £ 30 billion a year.
” These amounts of eye irrigation are being paid by workers through higher taxes, higher prices and higher mortgage levels. ”
Ruth Gregory, economist in capital consulting economics, said the figures “showed that public borrowing was overestimating the OB prediction even before the impact of tariff chaos was felt.”
She added: “This raises the chance that if the chancellor wants to adhere to its fiscal rules, more tax increases in the fall budget will be required.”
The main economist of the EB Grant Fitzner said initial guard estimates suggested that, despite a “significant” increase in revenue, public sector borrowing increased almost £ 21 billion in fiscal year, “mainly due to inflation -related costs, including higher wages and benefits.”
At the end of March, he said, “Debt remained close to the annual value of economy production at the last viewed levels in the early 1960s.”
The OBR warned last month that, despite the latest welfare cuts, the government’s “fiscal head” – or the maneuver budget room – remained historically small at 9.9bn £.
The economic view of the United Kingdom has been deteriorating since then, which can put further pressure on tax revenues and public finances.
Like many other countries, Britain has been hit by Trump’s tariffs, which include 10 percent tasks across the board and higher levels in steel and cars.
On Tuesday, the IMF shorten its prediction of growth in 2025 for the UK to 1.1 percent, from its previous estimate of 1.6 percent, warning of widespread economic termination by trade tensions. It reduced its global growth prediction by 0.5 percentage points to 2.8 percent.
Additional reporting by George Parker in London
