Government has already breached original borrowing target for whole of 2016/17, says TUC

Government borrowing in the first quarter of 2016/17 has already exceeded the planned borrowing for the entire year, ONS figures published today (Thursday) reveal. 

Borrowing in the first quarter of the 2016/17 financial year reached £25.6bn, exceeding the £24bn originally expected for the year as a whole.

Commenting on the figures, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“Today’s figures further demonstrate that we can’t cut our way to prosperity. Trying to reduce borrowing by cutting public spending has been entirely counter-productive. 

“The previous government’s cuts weakened the economy, hit the tax take, and are forcing more borrowing than expected. 

“Theresa May must learn from the mistakes of her predecessor as we face up to Brexit. Instead of more cuts, she should invest in infrastructure to keep the economy moving.

“Leaving the EU will be a major economic challenge for this country. We must ensure that working people do not pay the price for Brexit.”

NOTES TO EDITORS: 
- The headline statement is based on a comparison of the ONS public sector net borrowing figure for the first quarter of 2016/17 with the original Office for Budget Responsibility forecast for 2016/17, issued with their November 2011 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. 
- The TUC has published a report on the urgent economic actions needed following the vote to leave the EU. The full report ‘Working people must not pay the price for the vote to leave the EU: an action plan to protect the economy, jobs and workers’ rights’ can be found at: www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/WorkingPeopleMustNotPaythePrice.pdf&…;
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