Borrowing hits £55.2bn amid fallout from Covid
SHAREWATCH
GOVERNMENT borrowing surged to a new record high in May, hitting £55.2bn and beating the newly revised £48.5bn for April following heavy spending in the face of coronavirus, according to new figures.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) added that public sector borrowing – excluding banks owned by the state – was nearly nine times the level in May 2019.
It means the UK’s debt mountain has also now grown to more than the entire country’s output – gross domestic product – for the first time since 1963, officials added, to £1.95 trillion, or 100.9% of GDP.
April was previously thought to be the all-time highest borrowing month
AEROSPACE & DEFENCE
AvonRbbr ........................................ £33 BAE Systems .................................... 506 Chemring .......................................... 238 Meggitt ......................................... 315 5/8 Rolls-Royce .................................. 334 1/4 Senior .................................................... 79
AIM
600 Group ........................................ 9 1/2 Highland Gold Mining ................. 230 Johnson Service Grp ............... 118 3/8 London Security ............................. £21 M”S Intl .............................................. 128 Nichols ............................................. 1360 Scapa Grp ......................................... 120 Youngs ............................................. 1255
BANKS
Barclays ........................................ 116 1/2 HSBC Hldgs ................................. 391 3/8 Lloyds Banking Gp ...................... 32 1/4 Ryl Scotland ................................ 121 3/4 Standard Chartered ...................... 427
BEVERAGES
Barr (AG) ............................................ 483 Diageo ............................................... £29
CHEMICALS
Croda International .................. £52 3/8 Elementis 98 .................................. 67 3/8 Johnsn Mat ................................. £21 3/8
CONSTRUCTION & MATERIALS
Balfour Beatty ............................ 272 3/8 C”R”H ............................................ £28 3/4 Costain .................................................. 73 Marshalls ...................................... 623 1/2
ELECTRICITY
Drax Gp ........................................ 232 1/4 SSE ............................................... 1387 1/2
ELECTRONIC & ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
Morgan Advanced .................... 247 1/2 Ox Instmts ...................................... 1518 Volex ................................................... 152 +2 1/2 +5 +4 -2 1/2 -1 1/4 -1 +4 3/4 +1 5/8
-20 -15
-2 1/8 +9 7/8 -1/4 -3/4 +3 1/4
+10 +1
+7/8 +1 1/4 -1/8
+6
-3 5/8 -5
-1 -1 +10 1/2 +62 since records began in 1993, coming in at £62.1bn, but officials yesterday revised this down by £13.6bn due to larger than expected tax and national insurance contributions and lower costs associated with the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
The furlough scheme is expected to cost the Treasury £60bn by the time it closes in October, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
Borrowing in the current financial year to date, April and May, is estimated to have been £103.7bn – up £87bn on the same period a year ago and the highest two-month period
EQUITY INVESTMENT INSTRUMENTS
Aberdeen D I & G Trust ................... 96 Alliance Trust ................................... 800 Dunedin Inv ..................................... 257 Edin Invst .......................................... 482 Electra Private Equity ................... 207 F&C Investment Trust ................... 702 Henderson Smllr Cos .................... 832 NorthAmericanInc ...................... 252 Scot Am ............................................. 423 Scottish Mortgage ................... 805 1/2 Witan .................................................. 191
FIXED LINE TELECOMMUNICATIONS
BT Grp ........................................... 118 1/2 Talktalk Telecom ........................... 88 3/8
FOOD & DRUG RETAILERS
Morrison (WM) .......................... 190 3/8 Sainsbury ..................................... 200 1/4 Tesco ............................................. 227 3/8
FOOD PRODUCERS
AB Food ............................................. £20 Carrs Group ...................................... 104 REA Hldgs ............................................ 67 Tate Lyle ............................................ 691 Unilever ........................................ £46 3/8
GAS, WATER & MULTIUTILITIES
Centrica ................................................ 43 National Grid .............................. 973 3/8 Pennon Grp .................................... 1178 Severn ........................................... £25 5/8 United Utils ................................. 978 1/4
GENERAL FINANCIAL
3i Group ....................................... 844 1/4 Close Bros ....................................... 1092 London StockExch .................... £82 3/8 Man Group .................................. 130 3/4 Provident Financial .................. 196 3/8 Schroders .................................... £29 7/8 Schroders NV .............................. £22 1/4
GENERAL INDUSTRIALS
Smith(DS) ........................................ 333 Smiths Grp ..................................... 1323 -5/8 +12 -2 +1 1/2 -1 1/2 +16 +35 +8 +1 +22 1/2 +5 3/8 +3/8 -1 1/4
+2 3/8 +1 3/4
+1
+1/2 -6 -1/2 +14 +1 1/4 +1 1/8 +24 +27 +3/4 +38 5/8
+27 5/8 +5 +1 3/4 +1 1/4 +8 3/4 +5/8 +1/4
+2 7/8 +18 on record. The OBR had previously predicted last month that borrowing for the entire year is expected to hit £298.4bn.
All the extra borrowing means debt at the end of May was £1.95 trillion, up £173.2bn, or 20.5 percentage points, compared with the same month a year ago.
The amount of cash needed by the Government in May was also a record high at £62.7bn, with £126.2bn required in just April and May combined, the ONS added.
GENERAL RETAILERS
Dixons Carphone .............................. 92 Inchcape ...................................... 497 3/4 Kingfisher .................................... 208 7/8 M & S ............................................. 107 7/8 Mothercare ........................................... 8 Next ............................................... £52 3/8 WH Smith ....................................... 1153
HEALTH CARE EQUIPMENT & SERVICES
Smith Nph ................................. 1634 1/2
HOUSEHOLD GOODS
Barratt Devel .............................. 508 1/4 Bellway ......................................... £26 5/8 Persimmon .................................. £23 3/8 Reckitt Benckiser ...................... £71 3/4 Taylor Wimpey ................................ 149
INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
I”M”I .................................................... 920 Molins ................................................ 158 Renold ............................................. 12 3/8 Spirax-Sarco ................................ £99 1/2 Weir Grp .......................................... 1053
INDUSTRIAL METALS
Ferrexpo ....................................... 178 3/4
+1 1/8 -1/2 +15 1/2
-11 1/8
INDUSTRIAL TRANSPORTATION
Signature Avi .............................. 242 3/8
LIFE INSURANCE
Aviva .............................................. 278 3/4 Lgl&Gen .......................................... 221 Prudential .................................. 1207 1/2 Standard Life Aberdeen ......... 255 3/4
MEDIA
DailyMail&GenTst ...................... 695 ITV ..................................................... 78 1/4 Pearson .............................................. 586 Reach ............................................... 85 7/8 RELX .................................................. 1915 STVGroup ........................................ 236 WPP ............................................... 660 1/4 +2 +6 1/4 -3/4 -4 1/4 -3/8 +1/2 +8 +14
+4 5/8 +1/4 +1/4 +3/8 +6 1/4
+5 +6 7/8
-1/8 -3 1/2 -2 1/2 +1 1/8
+8 +1/2 +2 +3 1/4 +30 1/2 +6 +19 3/8
MINING
Anglo American ........................... 1831 Antofagasta ................................ 892 1/4 BHP Group ................................ 1613 1/4 Fresnillo ............................................. 780 Kaz Minerals ................................ 445 1/8 Rio Tinto ....................................... £44 5/8
MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Vodafone Group ....................... 127 3/4
NONLIFE INSURANCE
Admiral Grp ................................ £23 1/4 Marsh McL ................................... £86 3/4 RSA Ins Gp ................................... 418 3/8
OIL & GAS PRODUCERS
BP ................................................... 321 1/2 Cairn Energy ............................... 128 1/4 Premier Oil ..................................... 50 1/8 Royal Dutch Shell A ................ 1375 3/4 Royal Dutch Shell B ................ 1318 1/4 Total ............................................... £32 1/4 Tullow Oil ........................................ 33 3/4
OIL EQUIPMENT & SERVICES
Petrofac ......................................... 210 1/8 Wood Gp(J) ................................. 224 1/4
PERSONAL GOODS
Burberry Gp .............................. 1564 1/2 PZ Cussons .................................. 186 5/8
PHARMACEUTICALS & BIOTECHNOLOGY
Astrazeneca ................................ £84 7/8 GlaxoSmithKline .......................... 1657
REAL ESTATE
Brit Land ....................................... 405 1/4 Hamrsn ......................................... 104 5/8 Intu Properties ..................................... 5 Land Securities .......................... 605 3/4 SEGRO ........................................... 880 3/8
+1/8 -7/8 +2 3/8
+6 5/8 +5 7/8 +1 1/4 +14 +14 5/8
+8 1/4 -2 5/8
+1 1/2 +4 3/8 +7/8 +9 3/4
-7 1/2 -9 3/4 -1 1/8 -17 1/4 -1 3/4
SOFTWARE & COMPUTER SERVICES
Computacenter ............................ 1634 Sage Group ................................. 691 3/4
Interest payments on the debts were £3.3bn in May, up £0.2bn from May 2019 as the amounts are linked to inflation.
The increase in borrowing came because central government receipts fell 28.4% compared to May a year ago, at £40.7bn, including £28.9bn in taxes.
Value Added Tax (VAT), Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Income Tax and Corporation Tax receipts fell by 46%, 29.4% and 14% respectively, the ONS said, although officials were keen to stress the numbers could change +34 1/4 +2 3/8 -8 5/8 +21 1/4 +3 3/8 -3/8
+3/4
+7/8 +26 +13 5/8
SUPPORT SERVICES
Bunzl .................................................. £21 Capita ............................................... 43 1/8 Connect Group .................................. 15 De La Rue .......................................... 154 Elctro Com ................................... 667 1/2 Electrocomp ............................... 667 1/2 Experian ....................................... £28 1/4 G4S ...................................................... 111 Hays ............................................... 124 1/4 Homeserve ..................................... 1267 Menzies J .......................................... 144 Redde Northgate ........................... 250 Rentokil ........................................ 504 1/4 Travis & P .................................... 1146 1/2
TECHNOLOGY HARDWARE & EQUIPMENT
IBM ............................................... £100 5/8 Spirent Comms ............................... 242
TOBACCO
Br Am Tob .................................... £31 3/4 Imperial Brands ............................ 1554
TRAVEL & LEISURE
Carnival ...................................... 1246 1/2 Compass Grp ................................. 1179 easyJet ............................................... 798 FirstGroup ...................................... 54 1/4 Go-Ahead Gp ................................ 1000 Intercontl Htls ................................. £40 Intl Cons Airl ............................... 271 1/2 Marston’s ......................................... 62 5/8 Mitchells & Butlers .................... 212 1/2 Natl Express ................................ 236 3/4 Rank Org ...................................... 162 3/4 Restaurant Grp .................................. 67 Ryanair ........................................ 1045 3/8 Stagecoach Group ...................... 66 7/8 Whitbread ................................... £23 5/8 William Hill .................................. 133 5/8 +1 1/2 +1 +4 -1 1/2 -1 1/2
-1/2 +1/8 -21 +6 3/4
-2 +4 +1/8 -1
+3/8 +42 1/2
-14 1/2 +35 -5 1/4 -2 1/8 +6 +1/8 +2 1/2 -1 3/4 -3 1/2 -5 3/4 +3 3/8 +1 +13 5/8 -1 -5/8 -3
INDEX FTSE 100 ......................... 6292.60 +68.53 FTSE 250 ....................... 17687.26 +169.00
when actual cash data is received.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “Today’s figures confirm that coronavirus is having a severe impact on our public finances.
“The best way to restore our public finances to a more sustainable footing is to safely reopen our economy so people can return to work.
“We’ve set out our plan to do this in a gradual and safe fashion, including reopening high streets across the country this week as we kick-start our economic recovery.”