Public sector net borrowing (PSNB) hit £22.0bn in November, the highest November total since monthly records began in 1993 and a big jump from £13.9bn last year according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The number was also ahead of City forecasts of £13.0bn.
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PSNB was £105.4bn in the financial year to November 2022, £7.6bn less than in the same period last year, but £50.8bn more than in the financial year to November 2019 (pre-coronavirus).
This is the fourth highest financial year to November borrowing since monthly records began in 1993, the ONS said.
Debt interest payable was £7.3bn in November, which was £2.4 billion more than in November 2021 and again the highest November figure since monthly records began in April 1997 with the volatility largely because of the effect of RPI changes on index-linked gilts.
Public sector total expenditure was £98.9bn while public sector total receipts were £76.9bn.
Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist, at Pantheon Macroeconomics said “public borrowing was boosted in November by the government’s energy and cost of living interventions, the decision to reverse April’s National Insurance hike, and high inflation.”
He also expected public borrowing to overshoot the OBR’s forecast in future years.
“We think public borrowing eventually will settle at about 4% of GDP in the mid-2020s, above the 3% ceiling specified by the new fiscal rules” he said.
But The EY ITEM Club said ““It will be some time before a true picture of the state of the public finances emerges” as the ONS continues to describe the cost of the energy schemes as “initial indicative estimates.”
They suggested “large revisions are likely.”