The government is facing a tougher job of meeting its deficit-cutting target this year after it was forced to borrow almost £3 billion more than anticipated in August.
Lower-than-expected tax receipts from the self-employed and companies pushed borrowing to £12.1 billion last month, according to the Office for National Statistics, above the £9.2 billion average forecast by City analysts.
The blowout in borrowing was described by analysts as “a nasty surprise” for George Osborne and damaging to his hopes of meeting a £20.6 billion forecast reduction in borrowing over the full financial year.
After the first four months of the fiscal year, he was on track — 35 per cent of the way to meeting that target — but after five months, he is only