Public sector borrowing falls heavily in July

The borrowing figure, which excludes financial interventions, was much lower than analysts had expected. July's figure will be welcomed by the coalition government which pledged to eliminate the UK's budget deficit by 2015 and has put in place a strict austerity plan in an effort to meet the target.  Last year, the deficit was 11% of GDP. Public sector net borrowing excluding financial interventions was £40.1bn in the year to date for 2011/12, down from £43.1bn for the same period last year, added the ONS.