Photo: ANP
The UK’s budget deficit reached a record high last month. Public finances have been further strained by the cost of measures to protect homes and businesses from soaring energy bills. The government also spends a lot of money paying interest on its debt.
The budget deficit now stands at 27.4 billion pounds (more than 31 billion euros). The British Statistics Agency announced that this was nearly three times as much as in the previous year. At that time the deficit was still 10.7 billion pounds. The deficit is much larger than economists assumed.
The UK has been struggling with major economic problems for some time and is expected to enter recession this year. As a result, tax revenues will fall even more and the deficit will grow even more. The country has also been grappling with a wave of nationwide strikes for some time, including those at railways and hospitals. And it will continue next month with a massive strike of civil servants. They demand higher wages due to high inflation.
