Tuesday October 20, 11:26 AM
British deficit surges in September: data
LONDON (AFP) - Britain recorded a public deficit of 19.4 billion pounds (21.2 billion euros, 31.8 billion dollars) in September as the economy buckled under the weight of recession, official data showed Tuesday.
The deficit -- or "public sector net cash requirement" (PSNCR) -- for September compared with one of 13.3 billion pounds during the same month in 2008, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.
It added that the public sector net borrowing requirement -- the government's preferred measure of public finances -- soared to 14.8 billion pounds in September.
That was almost double the 8.7 billion pounds in the same month one year ago, but less than the 15 billion pounds forecast by analysts.
Both the "cash" and "borrowing" requirements were at the highest levels ever seen for the month of September.
A deep recession in Britain has sapped taxation revenues and ramped up government spending on unemployment benefits and economic stimulus measures.
The ONS added Tuesday that net benefit payouts jumped by almost 10 percent in September to 13.8 billion pounds, compared with the same month of 2008.
Revenues from value-added tax on goods and services, and income tax, both sank by more than 13 percent.
- http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=206 (Office of National Statistics)
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