UK Borrowing Misses Forecasts by £2.3 Billion in July as Welfare Spending Climbs
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 21
UK Borrowing Misses Forecasts by £2.3 Billion in July as Welfare Spending Climbs
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 21
Summary
July borrowing came in at £1.8 billion, two-thirds above a year earlier and £2.3 billion higher than the Office for Budget Responsibility had forecast.
Welfare costs drove the overshoot: social payments, including benefits and the state pension, rose £2 billion from a year earlier, outweighing a boost from self-assessed income tax receipts.
That leaves Chancellor John Healey with less room before his 27 October Budget, as he sticks to fiscal rules requiring day-to-day spending to be funded by tax receipts by decade-end.
Borrowing for April to July reached £56.7 billion—below the same period last year but still £2.3 billion above forecast—while economists warned slower growth and more cost-of-living support could widen the gap.
Britain's debt pile is nearing £3 trillion, sharpening political pressure as Labour argues it is cutting the deficit quickly and Conservatives say higher spending will burden households.