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| UK government borrowing falls slightly in May | UK government borrowing falls slightly in May |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Government borrowing fell slightly in May compared with the same month a year ago, according to official figures, but it was still higher than expected. | Government borrowing fell slightly in May compared with the same month a year ago, according to official figures, but it was still higher than expected. |
| The Office for National Statistics said borrowing, excluding support for state-owned banks, was £9.7bn in May, down £0.4bn from the same month last year. | The Office for National Statistics said borrowing, excluding support for state-owned banks, was £9.7bn in May, down £0.4bn from the same month last year. |
| It was the lowest May total since 2007, but economists had forecast £9.5bn. | |
| The ONS revised down its estimate of the amount borrowed in the 2015-16 financial year to £74.9bn. | |
| But for the financial year so far - covering April and May - borrowing has reached £17.9bn, £0.2bn higher than the same period a year ago. | |
| Receipts from income, corporation and VAT taxes in May were all higher than a year earlier, but the government's total current expenditure also rose. | |
| The ONS said that total public sector net debt - excluding banks - by the end of May stood at £1.606 trillion, the equivalent of 83.7% of gross domestic product (GDP). | The ONS said that total public sector net debt - excluding banks - by the end of May stood at £1.606 trillion, the equivalent of 83.7% of gross domestic product (GDP). |
| The ONS says annual borrowing has been falling in general since the peak reached in the 2009-10 financial year. | The ONS says annual borrowing has been falling in general since the peak reached in the 2009-10 financial year. |
| The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which produces economic forecasts for the government, has estimated that the public sector will borrow £55.5bn during the financial year to March 2017; a reduction of about £20bn for the previous financial year. | The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which produces economic forecasts for the government, has estimated that the public sector will borrow £55.5bn during the financial year to March 2017; a reduction of about £20bn for the previous financial year. |
| 'Eye off the ball' | |
| Chancellor George Osborne has pledged to fix the public finances, and in March insisted that the UK was still on track to return a budget surplus by 2020. | |
| But both the Treasury and Bank of England have said the economy has been hit due to uncertainty ahead of Thursday's EU referendum. | |
| Capital Economics economist Scott Bowman said that the chancellor still "had a long way to go" to meet his projections. | |
| "Admittedly, we would take the figures for the first few months of the fiscal year with a pinch of salt as they are often revised in time due to being largely based on forecast data. | |
| "And if the UK votes to remain in the EU next month - as bookmakers' odds still suggest - then GDP growth should rebound in the second half of this year, paving the way for a more rapid improvement in the public finances," he added. | |
| Ross Campbell, public sector director at accountancy industry body ICAEW, accused the chancellor of "taking his eye off the economic ball". | |
| "Whatever the result on Friday morning, whether we remain in or leave the European Union, it is vital that government devises a comprehensive and rigorous strategy to kick-start a faltering economic recovery," he said. |