(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) LONDON, Nov 21 (KUNA) -- UK government borrowing was higher than expected last month according to the latest official figures.
Borrowing - the difference between public spending and tax income - was sterling pound 17.4bn (USD 22 billion) in October, down from sterling pound 19.2bn (USD 25 billion) in the same month last year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
In the financial year to October, borrowing was sterling pound 116.8bn (USD 152.52 billion), which was sterling pound 9bn (USD 11.7 billion) more than the same seven-month period in 2024.
It was the second-highest borrowing for April to October since records began in 1993, after 2020.
Chief secretary to the Treasury James Murray said the government aimed to reduce borrowing over the course of the parliament, with sterling pound 1 of every sterling pound 10 in taxpayer money currently spent on paying interest on national debt.
"That money should be going to our schools, hospitals, police and armed forces," he said.
"That is why we are set to deliver the largest primary deficit reduction in both the G7 and G20 over the next five years - to get borrowing costs down."(end)
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