UK public sector borrowing rises in September
Public sector borrowing rose by a fifth in the first six months of the year, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics on Tuesday.
Public sector net borrowing came in at £9.4bn in September compared to £8.8bn in the same month last year, just shy of analysts' expectations of £9.7bn.
In the six months since the start of the tax year in April, borrowing was up 21.6% on the same period a year ago at £40.3bn.
Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "September’s relatively small increase in borrowing leaves the public finances looking a little healthier than before, though the government still is on course to exceed next year’s 2% of GDP borrowing limit."
Thomas Pugh, UK economist at Capital Economics, said: "We already know that the Chancellor wants to review the fiscal rules in the Budget on 6th November as there is very little chance of hitting the current ones.
"We don’t know what the new fiscal rules will be, but they are likely to allow for a substantial loosening of fiscal policy at the Budget, which would support economic growth. Of course, whether this happens depends on whether there is a Brexit deal."