LONDON (dpa-AFX) - The UK budget deficit narrowed in February, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Friday.
Public sector net borrowing excluding banks decreased to EUR 0.3 billion from EUR 0.6 billion in February.
In February, receipts grew 3 percent largely due to self-assessed income tax. At the same time, expenditure increased 1 percent from last year.
In the financial year-to-date period, PSNB increased GBP 4.2 billion from last year to GBP 44 billion.
The Office for Budget Responsibility expects borrowing to increase to GBP 47.4 billion in the financial year ending March 2020.
At the end of February, public sector net debt excluding public sector banks, was GBP 1,791.5 billion or 79.1 percent of gross domestic product.
The ONS introduced an estimate of the public sector debt interest to revenue ratio, or DIR, for the first time. DIR in the financial year ending March 2019 currently stands at 4.1 percent, which was 1.9 percentage points below the 6.0 percent level set by the government.
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