Government finances show big surplus in January

The government finances showed a large surplus last month, more than double the surplus last January.

The surplus - the difference between spending and tax income - rose to £16.7bn in January, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

These are the last set of public finance figures to be released before the Chancellor's Budget in March.

Jeremy Hunt has hinted he wants to cut taxes, which are on course to rise to the highest level for decades.

The surplus in the government's finances could add fuel to the argument for tax cuts next month.

However, the surplus was lower than most economists had predicted.

Every January, the government tends to take more in tax than it spends in other months due to the amount it receives in self-assessed taxes, according to ONS.

In the year from April 2023 public borrowing has totalled £96.6bn.

Overall the UK's debt has risen compared to a year ago and remains at levels last seen in the early 1960s, the ONS said, at around 96.5% of the size of the economy, measured by GDP.

One of the government's key pledges is that debt should be falling as a percentage of GDP in five years' time.