By Mukarram Hamid
New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the UK Government exceeded borrowing expectations in April.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had forecast borrowing of £20.9bn for the month. Instead borrowing rose by 25% from April 2025, when it stood at £19.4bn, to £24.3bn in April 2026.
Grant Fritzner, Chief Economist at the ONS, said: “Borrowing this month was substantially higher than in April last year, and although receipts increased compared to April 2025, this was more than offset by higher spending on benefits and other costs.
“Borrowing for the latest full financial year was revised down slightly, and on a comparable basis remains the lowest since the year ending March 2020.”
Government spending on benefits rose by £2.7bn compared with the same time last year, largely due to inflation-linked increases in many benefits and earnings-linked increases to State Pension payments.
Interest payments on debt were £10.3bn, a record high for April and up £9bn last year.
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