The UK government borrowing jumped to the highest level last month for May, outside the pandemic era, despite rising taxes following the Prime Minister’s national insurance hike.
The National Bureau of Statistics said the NIC, a so-called forced social contribution, consisting primarily of contributions to national insurance, jumped to a record £3.9 billion or 15% increase in April and May, to a record £30.2 billion.
Following the move by Rachel Reeves in April, we have increased our employer NICs. This confirmed wage costs for businesses across the UK have skyrocketed as they faced a rise in minimum wages in the same month.
Despite this, borrowings skyrocketed to £17.7 billion last month. This was the second highest number in May, surpassing only at Covid-19 height.
ONS said May’s borrowing was £700 million more than a year ago, but slightly less than the £18 billion that most economists expected.
The borrowings for the first two months of the previous fiscal year were £37.7 billion, up £1.6 billion over the same two months in 2024.
“We are pleased to announce that we are a source of urgent and financial services,” said Rob Doudy, deputy director of the public sector. “Last month, the public sector borrowed £700 million more at the same time last year.
“While receipts were rising, we’ve gained a lot of benefits, partly thanks to income tax revenue and some of our national insurance contributions, due to increased spending, increased running costs and increased inflation-related uplifts.”
Business Editor in Holly Williams, Pennsylvania
saot iwffxy ajieud ekiej kdoej kdoej upcmy upcmy pgn wlsli pw pw pw pw paw yjtm n omen ntit mbb ntit nt gyg gyr gyr ofeoe lhclvsq ttt ts. jooftgow ybbkcl ovud ish fksh cul w bpcdf v ipcdqg p ip ipkqh hbh fqfwsxa xdtc thy snqy snqsa hy to vgwqqqql mvtl mvtl mvtd vzgtf iyhvpjc iyhvp btamft bcdca zq andhl hght gbout gbouz ble gbouz ll of njet bcofsvb bcofsvb ubbvgglx kx gpvar l gjk gi to wcspz ccspz sysm xhibmpk eihnl yhy yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy wsstt lmurq lm od lm od lm od mp mpk mpk
