Public debt remains at a post-war record according to official figures released today, but the data also suggest the economy is stabilising, head of macroeconomics at PricewaterhouseCoopers(PwC) says.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) public borrowing figures show a budget deficit for April-December 2009 of £120bn, compared to £64bn in the same period a year earlier. Yet the latest monthly borrowing figure of £15.7bn for December was lower than expected. Taken with the effect of the VAT rise and the improving trend in the economy and in City incomes, these figures suggests a total budget deficit for 2009/10 in line with the Treasury's £178bn forecast, according to PwC's John Hawksworth. "Today's figures confirm other indications the economy is starting to recover and that...
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