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Public sector borrows £22bn in Nov 22

ended 21. December 2022

This morning at 07:00 the November public sector finances data was published. It showed that, in November 2022, the public sector spent more than it received in taxes and other income, requiring it to borrow (public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks (PSNB ex)) £22.0 billion, which was £13.9 billion more than in November 2021, and the highest November borrowing since monthly records began in 1993. We sought the views of financial services and markets experts.

4 responses from the Newspage community

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Editor
Samuel Mather-Holgate
Independent Financial Adviser at Mather and Murray Financial
This will make grim reading for our Prime Minister who likes to think he’s got a grip on the country's purse strings. Instead, borrowing has massively overshot expectations with the highest ever November borrowing figures. UK debt financing costs have skyrocketed, and stability may have returned but at a much higher level. Uk borrowing rates increased on the news. Our debt-to-GDP ratio is soon set to be 100% and our economy is turning into a slow-motion train wreck.
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Editor
Sam Alsop-Hall
Chief Strategy Officer at Clive Henry Group
The public sector isn’t immune to inflationary pressures so these figures are in part a symptom of wider economic issues. Businesses' underinvestment will eventually come home to roost. The difference here is, despite being in a net deficit, the public sector can’t go bust. The Government's approach to the public sector over the past decade has left it with crumbling infrastructure, legacy technology and a lack of capital investment to take advantage of new ways of operating that are enjoyed in the private sector. With the number of public sector workers on strike this week, it brings into sharp focus the need for a major rethink about how this country is run.
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Editor
Mike Staton
Director at Staton Mortgages
The government have borrowed £105bn alone this year and it is predicted that the deficit will increase to £177bn this year, but anybody who is shocked by this figure must have been hibernating for most of 2022. The fact is we have become a nation without balls, bullied into submission by energy companies and fuel companies. Why are we increasing handouts for energy support when energy companies are posting billions in profits each quarter whilst driving this country into debt? I remember a Brexit slogan of “let’s make Britain great again”. I’m sorry, but since we left Europe we have become the laughing stock of the world.
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Debbie Porter
Managing Director at Destination Digital Marketing
Having worked in the public sector for the past 16 years, this is no surprise at all. The trimming and the cost-cutting has been relentless, year on year. There is nothing left to trim. There is no one else left to trim. Whilst the trimming is happening (and let’s not forget that this is happening to real people) these same people are then also asked to write ‘build strategies’ and are requested to carry out projects or legally required work, for which there is nothing left to deliver with. Couple this with insanely convoluted procedural red tape to achieve these cost savings and you can see easily how a huge chunk of public spending is being spent on saving spending. No wonder there is a stop-gap needed in the form of large sums of borrowed cash.