Its Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that borrowing in the first three months of the financial year was more than double the £55.4 billion seen in the whole of 2019-20 as the UK spent heavily on emergency support measures during the lockdown.
It came after June’s public sector net borrowing, excluding state-owned banks, rose five-fold year on year to £35.5 billion – £28.3 billion higher than a year earlier and the third highest for any month on record.
But borrowing last month was lower than expected by most economists and less than the downward revised £45.5 billion recorded for May.
The figure fell as the cost of the government’s furlough scheme for workers eased back to just over £9 billion when some firms began to recall staff, while the vast majority of the payment to self-employed workers was also made in May.
The ONS said the UK central government spent £80.5 billion in June, up by a quarter year on year.
Public sector net debt, excluding state-owned banks, surged to £1.98 trillion, which is equivalent to 99.6% of gross domestic product (GDP), marking the highest debt to GDP ratio since 1961, according to the ONS.
