- George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer
British public sector borrowing rose by more than expected in February, said the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday. Net borrowing rose by 15.2 billion pounds and now stands at 110 billion pounds for the fiscal year which ends in April.
"It now looks like borrowing will undershoot the ... forecast in 2011/12 of £127 billion by just a couple of billion," said Vicky Redwood, chief UK economist at Capital Economics research group.
"Public sector net borrowing came in at £15 billion, almost double both the consensus forecast and last year's February deficit. Growth of tax receipts slowed and, after under spending for the rest of the financial year, departments appear to have had a final splurge."
Also Tuesday, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said U.K. will avoid sliding back into recession.
"Britain is going to earn its way in the world," Osborne said. "There is no other road to recovery."
© Dukascopy Bank