"The rate of improvement in 2012/13 makes a snail look fast, but at least the chancellor can say the finances moved in the right direction"
-Howard Archer, an economist at IHS Global Insight
Britain's government borrowed less money in the financial year to April 2013, providing a boost for Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne as he is facing criticism over his economic management. The amount of borrowed cash stood at £120.6 billion, £0.3 billion lower than the previous year's total of £120.9 billion. Borrowing last month dropped to £15.1 billion, down from £16.7 billion a year earlier, excluding interventions such as bank bailouts, according to the Office for National Statistics. The decline is a result of decreased capital spending, as the government plans to eliminate budget deficit by 2017-2018. However, the U.K.'s budget deficit is still one of the biggest among major advanced economies, as the country is trying to shrug off the crisis and avoid from falling into a triple-dip recession.
"The rate of improvement in 2012/13 makes a snail look fast, but at least the chancellor can say the finances moved in the right direction," said Howard Archer, an economist at IHS Global Insight in London. The figures, though, are "unlikely to take the heat off and he faces another very difficult year ahead of both the growth the public finance fronts."
"The Chancellor just made it in under the OBR's forecast, albeit by the skin of his teeth," said Victoria Clarke, an economist at Investec.
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