UK August Borrowing Hits £18.3 Billion, Overshooting Forecasts Ahead of Healey Budget

Britain's government borrowed £18.3 billion ($24.5 billion) in August 2026, exceeding all forecasts in a Reuters poll that had projected £15.5 billion, the Office for National Statistics reported on September 22. The ONS also revised up borrowing for each of the previous four months, putting the April-August cumulative deficit at £77.3 billion. While that is £2.2 billion below the same period a year earlier, it is £8.1 billion above the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecast for this point in the fiscal year. The current budget deficit — the gap between day-to-day spending and tax revenue that the government must balance by 2029/30 — stood at £51.9 billion year-to-date, above the OBR's £47.1 billion projection. An ONS statistician attributed the overshoot to rising spending on goods, services and inflation-linked welfare benefits offsetting strong tax receipts. The figures add pressure on finance minister John Healey ahead of his first budget.