Borrowing – the difference between public sector spending and income – was £15.0 billion in May 2024, £0.8 billion more than in May 2023 and the third highest May borrowing since monthly records began in 1993. Borrowing in the financial year-to-May 2024 was £33.5 billion, £0.4 billion more than in the same two-month period a year earlier and the fourth highest year-to-May borrowing since monthly records began. Public sector net debt excluding public sector banks was provisionally estimated at 99.8% of gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of May 2024; this was 3.7 percentage points more than at the end of May 2023, ... (full story)