THE Chancellor’s woes have increased after the Government was revealed to have borrowed £20billion more than expected.
The £132billion of public spending in the past financial year to February far exceeded forecasts and has pushed our debt mountain higher.
Borrowing last month was £10.7billion — well above the £7billion that had been predicted.
Borrowing for the whole year is now set to hit an eye-watering £151billion — some £23billion more than the October forecast, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
The think tank estimated this would be £63billion more than the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast a year ago — before Labour came into power in July.
It piles further pressure on Rachel Reeves ahead of her Spring Statement on Wednesday, where she is preparing to unleash spending cuts.
The Chancellor is bracing for the OBR to drastically downgrade its economic growth forecast for the year.
And the £9.9billion of headroom she banked on in her tax-raising Budget last autumn is understood to have already evaporated because of stubbornly high inflation.
To stay within her self-imposed fiscal rules Ms Reeves will cut funding earmarked for Whitehall departments.
She is set to blame global uncertainties, such as US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, on the pitiful growth outlook.
But bosses have pointed to her £40billion of tax hikes, set to hit next month, as a choke on business output.
Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride yesterday told his opposite number to “get a grip”.
But Labour’s chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said of the party’s plans: “We must go further and faster to create an agile and productive state that works for people.”
