UK Government borrowing lowest since 2007
Cuts have been a popular topic in recent times, as the UK Government looks to reduce overall national spending. Following on from George Osbourne, the former UK Chancellor, Phillip Hammond has continued with the aim of reducing the gap between borrowing and spending.
Newly published figures indicate reduced borrowings of 2.1% against overall GDP. This is a significant figure given that borrowing represented as much as 10% back in 2010. It’s also worth noting that the figures don’t take into account lending given to the state-owned banking sector, who have had significant support since the 2007 downturn.
Although the figures show the Chancellor has beaten his 2017 budget target, it offers little comfort when comparing the figures to pre-2007 results. 10 years on, public debt now stands at almost double at a rate of 86.3% of GDP. Expressed as an overall figure the total sum owed is £1.798 trillion.
As the interest continues to pour in it seems highly unlikely any Government will make much of a dent on the overall figure. The Chancellor has also eased off on the pace of cut backs to give important infrastructure and services room to breathe.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) stated borrowing of £45.2 billion is the first provisional estimates of 2018. This figure could rise over the second half of the year as more accurate information becomes available.
