Is George Osborne losing the battle to reduce Britain’s gaping budget deficit? Not yet, but the latest figures are far from encouraging, as David Smith reports.
Is the government’s fiscal strategy still on track? Not if you look at the latest numbers for the public finances. Public borrowing totalled £14.4bn in June £0.5bn higher than a year earlier – but it is supposed to be coming down.
In the April–June period the position was even worse with underlying borrowing £4.5bn up on the corresponding period of 2011/12.
On the face of it the government should not be borrowing more. Central government receipts in June were 3.6% higher than a year earlier and in the latest three months were 2.5% higher. Central government expenditure by contrast was down by 0.8%...
