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UK public sector borrowing showed its first annual fall since the start of the pandemic in April, dropping to £31.7 billion ($45.01bn) as parts of the economy reopened from a third lockdown.
Government borrowing was down from the £47.3bn registered in April last year when the first Covid-19 shutdown hammered the country’s public finances, according to the Office for National Statistics, however the figure was still the second highest for April since records began.
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Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said the government will continue its package of support to help businesses and workers “get back on their feet”.
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Britain’s borrowing hit £303.1 billion ($420.14bn) in March, after emergency pandemic support measures sent the annual figure to the highest level since the end of the Second World War.
The surge in public sector debt over the financial year, which ended last month, was £246bn higher than in the previous 12 months, with borrowing at 14.5 per cent of economic output, the highest ratio since 1946 when the figure was 15.2 per cent, according to the Office for National Statistics.
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Borrowing in March alone hit £28bn, a record high for that month, with the overall numbers reflecting the sharp rise in public sector spending and tax cuts as UK finance minister Rishi Sunak tried to offset the economic hit from the Covid-19 crisis.
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Government borrowing hit £303.1bn in year ending March
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05:03 PM
Sterling has a strong day
Sterling has had a strong day today, rebounding from a sharp fall on Thursday after strong retail sales and PMI figures were a positive sign for Britain s economic recovery.
It rose 0.07pc against the US dollar to $1.384, as the weak greenback continued a disappointing week ahead of the Fed s latest rates decision. The pound was down 0.4pc against the euro at €1.147.
A SCOTTISH firm of architects and planners has invested in a peatland restoration project to offset its carbon footprint. Halliday Fraser Munro, which is headquartered in Aberdeen, says it is the first Scottish firm to invest in the Highland Carbon project in Wester Ross in the north of Scotland. This is a 341 hectare site of restored peatland and small lochs in Ross and Cromarty that is home to more than 60 species of birds, 100 plant types and 36 different species of fungi. “Some of the most iconic species in Scotland have been spotted here, including pine marten, otter, mountain hare, golden eagle and dippers that thrive in and on the river that runs through the site,” Highland Carbon adds.