Public Sector Debt
The question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the causes of public sector net borrowing exceeding the initial forecast published by the Office for Budget Responsibility by over £2 billion; and what fiscal measures HM Treasury is taking to address this variance.
Answered by Treasury
The latest public sector finance statistics published by the Office for National Statistics on 21 August showed that public sector net borrowing in the financial year to July 2026 was £56.7 billion, which was £6.0 billion (9.6%) less than in the same period last year.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) publishes a commentary after the statistics are released each month, including comparisons of the data against their own forecasts, which is available on their website: https://obr.uk/monthly-public-finances-briefing/.
Fiscal policy will be set out at the Budget on 28 October in the usual way.
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