The Office for National Statistics said public sector net borrowing — the official gauge of the difference between the government’s spending and taxes — reached £303.1 billion ($420 billion) in the financial year to end-March. This was equivalent to 14.5 percent of the country’s annual gross domestic product, the highest level since 1946, when the deficit hit 15.2 percent of the GDP. Stockton thinks the actual deficit will end up being higher, “perhaps quite significantly,” as many businesses won’t be able to repay government-backed loans. In the post-war era the deficit peaked in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, hitting around 10 percent of the GDP. The borrowing undertaken by the government has pushed public sector net debt up to £2,142 billion, which is 97.7 percent of Britain’s GDP.

Source: Libya Today April 15, 2021 13:06 UTC