"The public finances saw clear improvement in the key month of January compared to a year earlier"
- Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight
U.K. government posted the largest budget surplus since 2008 in January. Revenue exceeded spending by 7.75 billion pounds, announced the Office for National Statistics on Tuesday.
The U.K.'s total public sector net debt, excluding financial sector interventions, declined to 988.7 billion pounds, or 63% of gross domestic product, having breached 1 trillion pounds in December.
"We view this as a small victory in a long and drawn-out battle to keep the debt burden manageable," said Blerina Uruci, economist at Barclays Capital.
"The public finances saw clear improvement in the key month of January compared to a year earlier which adds to the recent better news of the economy," said IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer.
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