London, United Kingdom, May 25 – UK government borrowing fell in April as easing virus curbs buoyed economic activity, but remains elevated owing to emergency Covid support, official data showed Tuesday.
Public sector net borrowing slid to £31.7 billion ($45 billion, 37 billion euros) last month, the Office for National Statistics said.
However, borrowing still stood at the second highest ever level for the month.
And it compared with a record £47.3 billion in April 2020 when at the height of the Covid crisis.
“The public finances started fiscal year 2021/22 with a large shortfall in April as the economy continued to receive… support,” noted financial services giant EY in a note.
“However, the deficit was well below the record level seen in April 2020 when the double-digit economic contraction had a significant impact on (tax) receipts.”
The ONS revised down slightly its estimate for last year’s total deficit.
Borrowing still ballooned to a record £300.3 billion in the year to March, the highest level since World War II.
The public purse has been slammed in particular by a furlough scheme which has paid the bulk of private sector wages for millions of workers across the UK during the pandemic.
Total government debt meanwhile stood at £2.17 trillion at the end of last month, the ONS added Tuesday.
That represented 98.5 percent of Britain’s gross domestic product, the highest proportion since March 1962.
