The Government has continued to make good progress in the early stages of its austerity programme. December's figure of £13.7bn for PSNBX (Public Sector Net Borrowing excluding financial interventions) was £2.2bn lower than in the same month of the previous financial year. This took borrowing over the financial year to date to £103.3bn, some £11.3bn lower than at this point last year. Some of the undershoot is accounted for by the higher VAT rate, and this will cease to flatter the year-on-year comparisons from January, but even allowing for this, the Government looks set to achieve the Office for Budget Responsibility's (OBR's) full year forecast of £127bn.
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