Public Sector Finances, January 2015

27th February 2015

From April 2014 to January 2015, public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks (PSNB ex) was £74.0 billion; a decrease of £6.0 billion compared with the same period in 2013/14.
In January 2015, PSNB ex was -£8.8 billion (a surplus); an increased surplus of £2.3 billion compared with January 2014.
In January 2015, self-assessed income tax receipts were £12.3 billion; an increase of £1.7 billion compared with January 2014. The proportion of self-assessed income tax recorded in January and February can vary year-on-year and it is therefore advisable to consider data for the two months (January and February) together.

Due to the volatility of the monthly data, the cumulative financial year-to-date borrowing figures provide a better indication of the progress of the public finances than the individual months.

From April 2014 to January 2015, the central government net cash requirement (CGNCR) was £68.6 billion; an increase of £14.6 billion compared with the same period in 2013/14. Cash transfers from the Asset Purchase Facility were £20.4 billion lower in year-to-date 2014/15 than in the same period in 2013/14, CGNCR without the impact of these transfers was therefore £5.8 billion lower in year-to-date 2014/15 than in the same period in 2013/14.

At the end of January 2015, public sector net debt excluding public sector banks (PSND ex) was £1,464.0 billion (79.6% of GDP); an increase of £86.1 billion compared with January 2014.

At the end of January 2015 General Government Gross Debt (Maastricht debt) was £1,586.0 billion (86.2 % of GDP) and General Government Net Borrowing (Maastricht deficit) in 2013/14 was £100.5 billion (5.8% of GDP).

In December 2014, an additional £2.9 billion contribution to the European Commission was recorded as current expenditure. Latest guidance from Eurostat has resulted in this figure being revised down by £1.2 billion to reflect a repayment from the European Commission to the UK.

Full data can be found at http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-359015