海角视频 government borrowing surpassed forecasts in October, with benefits and public sector wages amplifying strains on the public purse ahead of Rachel Reeves' Budget next Wednesday.
The Office for National Statistics revealed that public sector net borrowing had hit £17.4bn in the latest set of public finances data that government officials will review before Wednesday's pivotal political event.
City economists had anticipated government borrowing to total £15.2bn over the month.
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Borrowing in the current financial year has now also exceeded £100bn, reaching £116.8bn. This was nearly £10bn higher than the figure projected by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
Martin Beck, a former Treasury economist who is now at WPI Strategy, said: "The OBR may conclude that part of this overshoot [in government borrowing] reflects structural rather than cyclical weakness.
The fiscal watchdog will not take the latest set of numbers into account in its fiscal forecast to be published next week.
It is presenting its last forecast measures to Reeves today, with the Chancellor now set to get an official reading of the size of her headroom and the impact new Budget policies will have on growth.
But the latest set of figures on taxation, expenditure and borrowing will send a warning to Treasury officials putting their final touches on the upcoming Budget, which is expected to unveil fresh tax rises to fill a £20bn fiscal hole. The government's borrowing costs were £8.4bn for the month.
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Reeves has publicly said she will use the Budget to lower borrowing costs by curbing the cost of living. The OBR said in March that debt interest payments could exceed £110bn this year, more than twice the defence budget and near the level spent on education.
Reeves believes she can reap the benefits of lowering borrowing costs, which could include seeing public expenditure funds get freed up.
James Murray, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: "Currently we spend £1 in every £10 of taxpayer money on the interest of our national debt. That money should be going to our schools, hospitals, police and armed forces.
"That is why we are set to deliver the largest primary deficit reduction in both the G7 and G20 over the next five years – to get borrowing costs down.
"At the Budget next week, the Chancellor will set out how we will take the fair choices to deliver on the public's priorities to cut NHS waiting lists, cut debt and cut the cost of living."
Treasury officials will also scrutinise receipts from individual taxes amidst speculation that the Budget will feature a series of minor revenue-raisers, rather than a broad-based approach that risks violating Labour Party manifesto commitments.
Markets have been unsettled over the past week following reports that Reeves had scrapped plans to increase income tax, a move which City investors consider a dependable method to address a fiscal deficit.
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Media briefings suggested that the tax hike had been discarded due to enhanced OBR forecasts, although these assertions are under rigorous examination from independent economists and Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride, who penned a letter to the OBR on Thursday seeking clarification on alterations to the fiscal deficit.
A £20bn fiscal deficit has been primarily generated by OBR revisions to productivity trend forecasts, anticipated to be downgraded by 0.3 percentage points, reversals on welfare savings and increased government borrowing costs.