Since the UK started recording public sector net borrowing on a monthly basis in 1993, the scale to which the government has taken on debt has never been higher. As the latest Office for National Statistics data shows, for the current financial year so far, cumulative public borrowing has already reached £270 billion – far outstripping even the rate seen during the financial crisis.
Commenting on the situation, the ONS said: “The coronavirus pandemic has had a substantial impact on the economy and subsequently on public sector borrowing and debt…The latest official forecasts indicate that the £270.6 billion borrowed by the public sector in the financial year-to-January 2021 could reach £393.5 billion by the end of March 2021.”
This chart shows UK public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks from 1993 to 2021.
