The government borrowed £14.6 billion more than official forecasters expected last year, suggesting further tax rises or spending cuts from Rachel Reeves may be necessary to strengthen the public finances. In the financial year to March, the government borrowed £151.9 billion, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), up by £20.7 billion across the same 12-month period a year earlier. This was the third-highest borrowing in any financial year since records began in 1947, behind the pandemic in the year to 2021 and the global financial downturn in 2010. In March alone, borrowing totalled £16.4 billion, the third-highest figure for the month since records began in 1993. The annual deficit figure was much higher than the
