The government borrowed slightly more than expected in July, according to figures published as Chancellor John Healey draws up his first Budget.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said borrowing was £2.3bn more than official forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

Borrowing, the gap between what the government spends and what it takes in tax receipts, was £1.8bn in July, two thirds higher than the same month last year.

Economists warned the figure will restrict Healey and Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s room for manoeuvre as they target measures aimed at easing the cost of living for households, with little room to increase borrowing in the Budget on 27 October.

Healey has made it clear he will oversee “strong fiscal discipline” at the Budget – which will limit how much the government has to spend.

He has adopted his predecessor Rachel Reeves’ fiscal rules, which commit the government to funding all day-to-day spending through tax receipts by the end of the decade.

Responding to the borrowing figures, Healey said: “We are cutting the deficit faster than any other G7 economy, while giving people a bit of breathing space with cost of living pressures and focusing support to get young people into work.”

The government borrowed £16bn less in July than it did in June, helped by a surge in self-assessed income tax receipts.

But the figure came in higher than expected due to increased welfare spending, including benefits and other payments such the state pension. Social payments were £2bn higher than the same period last year.

The ONS said borrowing from April to July, the first four months of the government’s fiscal year, has reached £56.7bn. This is lower than last year, but £2.3bn higher than forecasts from the OBR, which the government uses when drawing up its spending plans.

Senior economist at Capital Economics Ashley Webb said the figure continued a “run of bad news” for the economy and that “there will be little scope to raise borrowing in the Budget later this year”.

He said the borrowing overshoot “will probably get bigger” this year as economic growth slows and the government rolls out more measures to support households with the cost of living.

Joe Nellis, head of economic research at accountancy MHA, also said the figures will not “prevent difficult decisions that must be made in the upcoming October Budget”.

Healey will have to find “additional tax revenue, tighter control over public sector spending and changes elsewhere” to balance the books and meet the government’s fiscal rules.

“Failure to do so will unsettle the financial markets and potentially push up the cost of government borrowing still further,” Nellis warned.

The ONS also said Britain’s overall debt pile is approaching £3tn, having grown by £127.2bn a year earlier. The Conservatives said Labour’s spending would leave “ordinary families” left to cover the bill.

Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride said: “We spend more on just the interest of our soaring debt than we do on our defence, police, and prisons combined. We simply cannot afford the price of Labour.”

The ONS also said retail sales were lacklustre in July, falling 0.5% from June. Analysts said the drop was caused by a surge of hot weather and a World Cup-induced surge in sales in June. Clothing and footwear saw the slowest growth since May last year.

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WASHINGTON — First lady Melania Trump made her first major public appearance since mid-July on Thursday, poking fun at her limited visibility throughout her husband’s second term as she took the stage at the White House Rose Garden to announce a new scholarship initiative for young people who grew up in foster care.

“Good afternoon,” the first lady told members of the press gathered for the event. “I heard you missed me. Here I am.” The remark drew attention to a pattern that has defined much of her public presence during President Donald Trump’s second term, during which she has largely stayed out of the national spotlight compared with more traditional expectations for the role.

Thursday’s event centered on the announcement of a new round of scholarships aimed at supporting students who spent time in foster care, developed in partnership with Fox Corporation and IndyCar ahead of the racing series’ upcoming Freedom 250 Grand Prix. According to details shared at the event, the initiative will provide $2 million in scholarship funding for eligible students at Indiana University and Purdue University who grew up in the foster care system.

The scholarship program builds on the first lady’s longstanding “Fostering the Future” initiative, which she has maintained since 2021, spanning both the period between her husband’s first and second terms in office. Speaking about the significance of the new scholarships, Trump emphasized the potential of young people currently navigating the foster care system. “Tomorrow’s leaders are sitting in classrooms today, including those growing up in foster care. Their capability is no less remarkable,” she said.

Trump’s relatively limited public role during the current administration marks a departure from how she previously described anticipating her return to the White House. Speaking to Fox News ahead of President Trump’s second inauguration, she reflected on how her expectations for this term differed from her experience during his first. “The first time was challenging. We didn’t have much of the information,” she said at the time. “But this time, I have everything … I already selected the furniture that needs to go in, so it’s a very different transition this time.”

In that same interview, Trump outlined a vision for her role that emphasized flexibility across multiple residences rather than a continuous, highly visible presence in Washington. “I will be in the White House. And when I need to be in New York, I will be in New York,” she said. “When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach. My first priority is to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife.” That framing has largely held true throughout the opening stretch of the administration’s second term, with Thursday’s Rose Garden appearance standing out as a comparatively rare instance of the first lady stepping into a prominent public role.

The scholarship announcement arrived alongside a broader slate of developments unfolding across Washington on Thursday. Vice President JD Vance said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has developed what he described as a “very discreet plan” aimed at addressing the nation’s $40 trillion national debt, a figure that has continued to draw bipartisan concern on Capitol Hill even as lawmakers from both parties have struggled to reach consensus on how to meaningfully rein in the growing federal debt load.

Elsewhere in the administration’s public messaging Thursday, President Trump and businessman Michael Cohen, his former personal attorney turned outspoken critic, appeared to set aside years of public animosity during a radio interview, with Trump telling Cohen he had been “weaponized” during their long-running feud. The unexpected exchange added another notable moment to a day already featuring a range of high-profile administration news.

On the international front, the U.S. State Department approved a possible $4.5 billion sale of refueling aircraft to Qatar, according to Thursday’s defense and national security coverage, part of the administration’s continued efforts to strengthen military cooperation with key Gulf allies amid ongoing regional tensions tied to the broader conflict between the United States and Iran.

Thursday’s Rose Garden event marked a notable public reappearance for the first lady following weeks largely out of public view. While Melania Trump has periodically stepped forward for specific initiatives tied to her longstanding interests, including her continued focus on supporting foster youth through educational scholarships, her overall public schedule during the current administration has remained considerably lighter than that of many of her predecessors, a pattern she has previously suggested reflects a deliberate choice about how she wishes to balance her responsibilities as first lady with her personal life and family priorities.

As the administration continues navigating a range of significant policy and political developments, from mounting concern over the national debt to ongoing defense cooperation agreements with Gulf allies, Thursday’s foster care scholarship announcement offered a comparatively lighter moment of public engagement for the first lady, one she used both to advance a cause she has championed for several years and to acknowledge, with evident self-awareness, her own relatively limited visibility throughout her husband’s second term in office.

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RailTel Corporation of India shares gained nearly 4% in Friday’s session after the company secured a Rs 164.78 crore work order from Western Coalfields Limited (WCL), extending its strong order-winning streak in August.

The stock climbed as much as 3.92% to Rs 291.75 during the session, as investors reacted to the latest contract and the company’s growing order pipeline.

According to RailTel’s regulatory filing, the latest order involves setting up an MPLS VPN network for Western Coalfields Limited on a rental basis for 60 months. The contract, awarded by WCL, is worth Rs 164.79 crore including taxes, with execution scheduled to be completed by September 20, 2031.

RailTel received the work order on August 19, 2026. The company also clarified that neither its promoter or promoter group nor its group companies have any interest in WCL. The contract does not qualify as a related-party transaction.

RailTel’s August order rush

The latest win takes RailTel’s major order announcements in August to five, with a combined value of around Rs 551.44 crore, underscoring continued demand for the company’s telecom, networking and digital infrastructure capabilities.

The company’s recent orders include:

Western Coalfields Limited, Rs 164.79 crore: MPLS VPN network on a rental basis for 60 months, announced on August 19.
Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), Rs 166.80 crore: A one-year extension of the Infra-as-a-Service (IaaS) work order, along with additional components. The order was received on August 17 and is scheduled for execution by February 9, 2027.Deendayal Port Authority, Rs 63 crore: Design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of an Integrated Gate Automation System (IGAS) at Kandla, along with five years of operation and maintenance. The order was received on August 12 and is scheduled for completion by August 16, 2031.

Department of Posts, Rs 119.19 crore: Provisioning and management of cloud services for Postal Life Insurance (PLI). The order was received on August 10.

North Western Railway, Rs 37.67 crore: Provision of 4×48-fibre Optical Fibre Cable for the Indigenous Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) across the Ajmer division, covering 568.24 route kilometres. The project is scheduled for completion by August 6, 2027.

Why RailTel shares are in focus

The latest contract adds to RailTel’s expanding order book and reinforces its presence across key public-sector and infrastructure segments, including coal, railways, ports, postal services and social-security infrastructure.

With five sizeable orders announced in just the first three weeks of August, investors are increasingly focusing on whether RailTel’s strong order inflow can translate into sustained revenue growth and execution momentum.

The latest Western Coalfields win therefore adds another significant leg to RailTel’s August order momentum, keeping the stock firmly on investors’ radar.

On the technical front, RailTel Corporation’s 14-day RSI stands at 40.5, indicating that the stock is in neutral territory. An RSI below 30 is generally considered oversold, while a reading above 70 signals overbought conditions. Meanwhile, the stock is trading below five of its eight key simple moving averages (SMAs), pointing to a relatively bearish technical setup.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)

Mumbai: Overseas investors remained net buyers across sectors in the first half of August, marking the fourth consecutive fortnight of inflows and the strongest run of purchases for a two-week period since early February, NSDL data showed.

Financial services attracted the highest foreign buying during the period, followed by automobiles & auto components’ stocks, consumer services, healthcare and information technology companies. In contrast, telecom, capital goods, power and realty witnessed the highest outflows.

Of the 24 sectors tracked, 14 got flows, while nine saw outflows.

“Although the Nifty has pulled back nearly 500 points from its recent highs due to rising bond yields, broader markets have demonstrated notable resilience, remaining largely flat. This performance signals a strategic shift among FIIs: rather than allocating capital to large-cap heavyweights, they appear to be favouring mid-cap names within key sectors,” said Pankaj Pandey, head of fundamental research, ICICI Direct.

Foreign investors net bought shares worth ₹16,621 crore across sectors during August 1-15, after investing more than ₹20,200 crore in July, according to NSDL data.

Despite remaining net sellers of financial services stocks in July, the tide turned for the sector this time around, with buying seen for ₹6,535 crore.
IT stocks also saw buying for the third straight fortnight.”Financial services is one of the sectors which has very clear growth visibility over the next 3-5 years and is significantly undervalued. It can be a pick for the long term oriented FPIs,” said Vikas Gupta, CEO at OmniScience Capital. “IT seems more like a tactical trading bet given the huge uncertainty in terms of manpower, revenues and earnings predictably from a 5 year perspective.”

Read more: Jefferies favours two-wheeler stocks over four-wheeler stocks as earnings gap widens

Gupta said that assuming that FPIs continue allocating to India, this is probably an initial positive trickle indicative of a turnaround phase in sentiment towards India and non-AI allocations.

Pandey said that FPI investments drove the Auto index to fresh all-time highs despite muted performance from major OEMs like Maruti and M&M, and positive inflows in IT hint that the worst of the downturn may be behind it.