Data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that in June public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks (PSNB ex) was 22.9 billion pounds, which is the second-highest June borrowing since monthly records began in 1993 and 4.1 billion pounds more than in June 2021. Meanwhile, the May value was revised up to 12.56 billion pounds from 13.99 billion pounds. Economists had expected PSNB ex to rise only to 12.8 billion pounds.
The ONS also reported that public sector net debt excluding public sector banks was 2,387.6 billion at the end of June, or around 96.1% of GDP, which is an increase of 183.0 billion pounds (+1% of GDP) compared with June 2021.
The current expenditure of the central government increased by 9.0 billion pounds, to 86.0 billion pounds, largely because of a 10.3 billion pounds increase in the interest payable on its debt compared with June 2021. Central government debt interest payable was 19.4 billion pounds in June, which is the highest since April 1997. Meanwhile, central government revenues amounted to 70.5 billion pounds, which is 7.9 billion pounds more than in June 2021. Tax revenues amounted to 51.4 billion pounds, an increase of 5.1 billion pounds compared to June 2021.