UK Govt sees record borrowings since 1946: Reports

LONDON: Reflecting the acute financial turmoil the country is going through, UK Government's borrowings for the six months ending September jumped to 37.6 billion pounds, the highest half-yearly amount in any fiscal since 1946.

"Borrowing was 8.1 billion pounds in September, taking the total to 37.6 billion pounds in the first half of the year, some 75 per cent higher than at the same point last year, and the highest since records began when Britain started rebuilding the country after the Second World War," The Telegraph said today in a report online.

Meanwhile, another daily The Times said, the figure was drastically up, "by 75 per cent, from the 21.5 billion pounds total for the same period in 2007-08, and was the highest for the first-half of any financial year since 1946.
The total government borrowing for the April to September period reached 37.6 billion pounds.

The daily in a report published online said the Treasury was forced to borrow record amounts in the first half of the present financial year as its tax revenues continued to fall far short of Alistair Darlings plans, plunging the Chancellors finances deep into the red.

Further, the net government borrowing for the month of September alone stood at 8.1 billion pounds, about double the figures of 4.7 billion pounds in the same period a year ago. According to The Times, the rise in government borrowing leaves Chancellor Alistair Darling no hope of now achieving the 43 billion pounds borrowing total for the full 2008-09 financial year set on in his March budget.

"City economists now expect the Chancellor to be forced to borrow 60 to 70 billion pounds over the full-year, and renewed warning today that borrowing could surge above 100 billion pounds in coming years...," the report noted.