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| UK borrowing hits record amount | UK borrowing hits record amount |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Government borrowing hit a record high of £163.4bn this year, official figures have shown. | Government borrowing hit a record high of £163.4bn this year, official figures have shown. |
| The borrowing figure for the 2009-10 financial year is lower than the £166.5bn predicted by Chancellor Alistair Darling in April's Budget. | The borrowing figure for the 2009-10 financial year is lower than the £166.5bn predicted by Chancellor Alistair Darling in April's Budget. |
| Including financial intervention measures, borrowing totalled £152.8bn - lower than the £155.9bn forecast. | Including financial intervention measures, borrowing totalled £152.8bn - lower than the £155.9bn forecast. |
| It is the biggest annual borrowing figure for a UK government in peacetime. | It is the biggest annual borrowing figure for a UK government in peacetime. |
| A further £23.5bn was borrowed in March, the figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed. | A further £23.5bn was borrowed in March, the figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed. |
| Borrowing in March is typically high as civil servants seek to spend the remainder of their annual budgets. | |
| Total government debt now stands at £890bn - equivalent to 62% of GDP. | Total government debt now stands at £890bn - equivalent to 62% of GDP. |
| Tax receipts up | |
| The £164.3bn borrowed is equivalent to 111.6% of GDP. | |
| Although the annual figure came in below the Budget prediction, City analysts reacted cautiously. | |
| "The big picture is that this is still the biggest budget deficit since the Second World War," said Jonathan Loynes, economist at Capital Economics. | |
| "With all parties' fiscal plans based on extremely optimistic economic assumptions and unspecified spending cuts, a further sizeable fiscal squeeze will still be needed after the election, whoever is in charge." | |
| Borrowing came in lower than expected partly as a result of a 3.8% increase in tax income in March. | |
| Income from VAT also rose following the return to the 17.5% rate at the start of the year, and corporation tax receipts were up by more than 50%. |