UK government borrowing hit £10.7bn in February, while airline shares tumble due to transport disruption caused by a fire near Heathrow airport

Looking at the the UK government borrowing figures for February alone – that is, the £10.7bn figure – borrowing was broadly similar to last year.

That breaks the trend over the previous six months, where borrowing was roughly £3bn higher per month, compared to a year earlier, Ellie Henderson, an economist at Investec explained.

Departmental spend on goods and services can account for the bulk of that, increasing by £2.9bn on the year, which has been attributed to pay rises and inflated running costs.

Unlike previous reports, net interest payments were not a big driver of the February numbers, as at £7.4bn payments were roughly equal to that of February 2024.