UK borrowing up but gives Hunt room for some tax cuts

(Sharecast News) - UK public borrowing came in less than expected in the first seven months of the financial year, according to official data published on Tuesday ahead of finance minister Jeremy Hunt's autumn budget.

Government borrowing between April and October was £98.3bn, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, £22bn higher than a year ago but almost £17bn less than forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in March.

The figures will heighten calls for Hunt to ease the tax burden on families, especially as decisions taken by he and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to freeze income tax thresholds have pulled millions of people into higher tax brackets - a stealth measure known as fiscal drag.

Freezing the thresholds, combined with soaring inflation, means that rather than raising £8bn over four years as first expected by the Treasury, the six-year freeze is now also on track to raise about £54bn by 2027-28.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com