The UK’s borrowing costs soared higher than expected in another blow to Chancellor Rachel Reeves, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Britain’s statistics authority found that public sector net borrowing rose to £151.9billion in the year to the end of March despite Labour’s attempts to manage the nation’s finances.
This figure is £14.6billion higher than the £137.3billion projected by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) ahead of the publication of today’s figures.
Notably, the 12-month figure was also £20.7billion higher than the public borrowing costs from the same period the year earlier.
UK borrowing costs continue to rise in a blow to Reeves GETTY According to the ONS, it was the third-highest level of borrowing in any financial year since records began in 1947.
The latest figures are only behind the Covid pandemic in the year to 2021, and the 2010 financial year following the global crisis.
This comes as borrowing rose to £16.4billion last month, the third-highest March borrowing since monthly records began, the ONS reports.
Grant Fitzner, the ONS’s chief economist, broke down what these figures mean for the UK economy.
He explained: “Our initial estimates suggest public sector borrowing rose almost £21 billion in the financial year just ended as, despite a substantial boost in income, expenditure rose by more, largely due to inflation-related costs, including higher pay and benefit increases.
“At the end of the financial year, debt remained close to the annual value of the output of the economy, at levels last seen in the early 1960s.”
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