Fresh warning as govt finances face deeper slide

Concerns over the precarious state of the government’s public finances were
mounting yesterday in a worsening economic downturn and fresh figures showed
growth rate of income tax revenues halving last month.

Moreover, official figures showed the
Treasury’s net
borrowing in the four months ending in July soared to £19.1bn – up from £10.7bn
in the same period last year, The Times reports.

The net surplus of the public finances for last month totalled £4.8bn but
this was sharply lower than the £6.4bn surplus registered a year ago, according
to Office for National Statistics reports.

Economists warned the underlying deterioration in the public finances was
underpinned by the low 2.9% rise in tax revenues in the financial year to date
compared with the same period last year – considerably below the 4.8% rise in
tax receipts factored in by the Chancellor.

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