£19.1bn Government borrowing is ‘highest ever’ for any February
THE GOVERNMENT borrowed another £19.1bn in February as it continues to fund a fight against the Covid-19 pandemic amid the economic toll of the latest lockdown.
It was the most that the public sector has borrowed during any February since records began in 1993, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The debt owed by public sector bodies has now risen by £333bn since April, the first month of full lockdown in the UK. The total debt is now £2.131 trillion, the ONS said.
Government bodies are believed to have spent around £72.6bn running their day-today activities in February. That is a rise of £14.2bn compared with February 2020, and includes £3.9bn on supporting jobs through Covid-19.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who has overseen the Treasury’s response to the pandemic, said: “Coronavirus has caused one of the largest economic shocks this country has ever faced, which is why we responded with our £352bn package of support to protect lives and livelihoods.
“This was the fiscally responsible thing to do and the best way to support the public finances in the medium term.
“But I have always said that we should look to return the public finances to a more sustainable path once the economy has recovered, and at the Budget I set out how we will begin to do just that, providing families and businesses with certainty.”
Mr Sunak pledged early on in the pandemic to provide whatever support businesses needed to help them through the Government-imposed lockdowns.
It has seen the Government back more than £70bn through three loan schemes, and also pay 80 per cent of salaries to about 10 million workers who were furloughed. The Government has relied heavily on borrowing to be able to fund this spending as tax receipts have also gone down during the period.
However, Mr Sunak has signalled that tax rises are likely in coming years, already announcing a plan to increase corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent for large companies by 2023.