The UK government borrowed £24.3 billion in April, the highest figure for any April since 2020 and £3.4 billion more than the Office for Budget Responsibility had pencilled in. It's not the kind of start to the financial year Chancellor Rachel Reeves was hoping for.
The overshoot was driven primarily by a sharp rise in spending. Central government outlays climbed 6.5% year-on-year to £101.1 billion, with higher benefit payments, pushed up by inflation-linked increases and a bigger State Pension bill, accounting for a significant chunk of the increase.
Debt interest payments also hit a record high for any April, reaching £10.3 billion, with index-linked gilts adding extra volatility to the bill.
Tax receipts did grow: income tax, corporation tax and VAT all came in higher. However, a £2.4 billion rise in revenues wasn't enough to keep pace with the spending increase.
Public sector net debt now stands at 94.2% of GDP, up half a percentage point on a year ago. That's the kind of number that tends to make bond markets nervous, particularly at a time when gilt yields are already elevated and political uncertainty is running high.
There is one small silver lining. The ONS revised down its estimate for full-year borrowing in the year to March 2026 to £129 billion - £3.7 billion below what the OBR had forecast and £22.8 billion lower than the year before.