Britain another £10.3bn in the red

Britain slumped into the red by another £10.3bn last month despite a leap in business tax and VAT revenues, figures revealed yesterday.

By The Newsroom

Published 19th Nov 2010, 10:40 BST

Updated 19th Nov 2010, 10:41 BST

Public sector net borrowing in October set a record high for

the month and marked an increase on the 10.1bn seen a year earlier, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The rise came in spite of signs that the recovery was boosting Government tax take, with corporation tax revenues up 29 per cent and VAT also higher as shoppers rushed to beat January's VAT rise to 20 per cent. Some economists had expected borrowing to fall year-on-year, with October traditionally seen as a strong month for taxes.

The figure, which excludes the impact of financial intervention by the Government, has taken borrowing in the financial year to date to 81.6 bn. But hefty downward revisions to borrowing in August and September give hope that the Government remains on track to come within the 149bn forecast for 2010-11.