Britain posted its biggest February budget deficit on record last month, taking the total for the fiscal year to date also to its highest since comparable records began in 1993, official figures showed today.
The Office for National Statistics said that public sector net borrowing stood at £8.9 billion in February, more than 8 times the level it was a year ago.
That took the cumulative total for the fiscal year so far to a record £75.2 billion. With only high-spending March left to go, finance minister Alistair Darling's full-year forecast of £78 billion looks set to be overshot by a very wide margin.
Looking ahead, the outlook for the public finances is even bleaker. In November, Darling predicted the PSNB in the fiscal year starting in April would total £118 billion, or some 8 per cent of GDP.
But since then, the economy has shrunk much faster than expected and Darling will almost certainly have to revise his forecasts in the budget next month, raising the prospect of even higher gilt issuance.
The public sector net cash requirement stood at £4.359 billion in February, the highest total for that month since 1995.