Britain posted its biggest ever November budget deficit last month as government spending spilled over from the previous month, official data has shown.
The Office for National Statistics said public sector net borrowing (PSNB) stood at £9.284 billion in November compared with £8.5 billion a year earlier. Analysts had forecast a PSNB of 8.0 billion pounds.
But that still left the cumulative PSNB for the financial year so far at £31.439 billion, some £3 billion less than a year ago, and compared with Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown's full-year forecast of £37 billion made earlier this month.
The main reason for the November deterioration in the PSNB was higher government expenditure, up 6.5 per cent on the year.
But ONS statisticians said some of this was probably the result of more spending falling into November as there were five weekends in October.