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The Office for National Statistics reported on Friday that budget deficit of the U.K. was lower than expected. Budget deficit excluding support for banks declined to £12.809 billion, which is approximately $20.5 billion, compared to a budget deficit of £13.501 billion a year earlier. The figure for the last month is the lowest September's reading since 2008. Economists, however, expected that it would be equal to £13.5 billion.
"Borrowing is still likely to overshoot the Office for Budget Responsibility's Budget 2012 forecasts, but by much less than expected, This will make for a much less awkward Autumn Statement for the chancellor and should assuage some of the recent concerns about the extent of the underlying deterioration in the U.K. public finances," said an economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Ross Walker.