The ONS estimated that full-year public sector net borrowing was £120.7 billion in 2023-24, £6.6 billion more than predicted.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has been dealt a blow after official figures revealed borrowing for the last financial year overshot forecasts, hitting £120.7 billion as wages and benefit payments soared.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that full-year public sector net borrowing was £7.6 billion less than in 2022-23, but £6.6 billion more than predicted by the UK’s official forecaster.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had forecast borrowing of £114.1 billion in the year to the end of March.
It comes after borrowing of £11.9 billion in March, which is £4.7 billion less than a year ago, but higher than the £10 billion expected by most economists.
Jessica Barnaby, ONS deputy director for public sector finances said: “Spending was up about £58 billion, with increased spending on public services and benefits outstripping large reductions in interest payable and energy support scheme costs.”
Overall, Government debt was around 98.3% of the UK’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) in March, around 2.6 percentage higher than a year earlier and remaining at levels last seen in the early 1960s, the ONS said.
A spokesman for the Treasury said: “Debt increased in recent years because we rightly protected millions of jobs during Covid and paid half of people’s energy bills after (Vladimir) Putin’s invasion of Ukraine sent bills skyrocketing.”
He added the Government “must stick to the plan to get debt falling”.
