LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s government borrowed more than expected in March, capping the 2023/24 financial year with a budget deficit that was 6.6 billion pounds ($8.1 billion) higher than official forecasters expected, data showed on Tuesday.
British public sector net borrowing, excluding state-controlled banks, was 11.94 billion pounds ($14.74 billion) in March, the Office for National Statistics said.
March’s borrowing, the last of the 2023/24 financial year, was above the median forecast of 10.2 billion pounds in a Reuters poll of economists.
With borrowing for February and January also revised higher, the overall total for 2023/24 stood at 120.7 billion pounds.
While down 7.6 billion pounds on a year ago, it was 6.6 billion pounds more than forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility last month.
($1 = 0.8102 pounds)