UK borrowing reaches $46 bn, exceeds forecasts; debt highest since 1960

By David Milliken and Andy Bruce

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's government borrowing exceeded forecasts in September and over the first half of the financial year was more than six times higher than a year earlier, due to the huge cost of the coronavirus pandemic, official data showed on Wednesday.

Public sector net borrowing totalled 36.101 billion pounds ($46.90 billion) last month, above the 33.550 billion pounds forecast in a Reuters poll, although August's figure was revised down by more than 5 billion pounds to 30.113 billion pounds.

Separately, the Office for National Statistics said annual consumer price inflation in September rose to 0.5% in September from 0.2% in August, when it had been reduced by a temporary scheme to promote dining in restaurants.

Economists polled by Reuters had on average predicted a rise in inflation to 0.5%.

British public borrowing is on course to reach a record 372 billion pounds this financial year, according to forecasts in August from the Office for Budget Responsibility, equivalent to 18.9% of gross domestic product, the most since World War Two.

Driven by a surge in coronavirus-related spending and a fall in tax revenue after the biggest economic hit since at least the 1920s, borrowing in the first half of the financial year totalled 208.5 billion pounds.

Wednesday's figures also showed that public debt rose further above the 2 trillion pound mark to 2.060 trillion pounds or 103.5% of GDP, its highest on this measure since 1960.

Ratings agency Moody's downgraded Britain's sovereign credit rating on Friday to the same level as Belgium's and the Czech Republic's, warning that Britain "effectively has no fiscal anchor".

Financial markets have repeatedly shrugged off these warnings, though, and 10-year government borrowing costs of around 0.2% are only slightly above an all-time low struck at the start of the pandemic.

Economists polled by Reuters expect the Bank of England to launch a further 100 billion pounds of bond purchases next month, adding to the 300 billion pounds announced since March.

Earlier this month finance minister Rishi Sunak said rapidly rising debt made the country more vulnerable to any future spike in interest rates, but has said fiscal retrenchment, but that for now his priority needed to be on supporting the economy.

($1 = 0.7697 pounds)

 

(Reporting by David Milliken and Andy Bruce; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Andy Bruce)