Government posts shock budget surplus for July
Month is traditionally strong for public finances because of self-assessment tax returns
Philip Hammond received an unexpected boost today with the news that Britain recorded a shock budget surplus for July.
In the same month last year, the government borrowed £300m more than it took in tax receipts. The Times says that "consensus figures among analysts" forecast the deficit would surge to as much as £1.5bn this year.
In fact the government took £200m more in tax than it spent last month, the Office for National Statistics says, quoting figures that exclude publicly-owned banks.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It's the first time in 15 years that the UK has recorded a budget surplus for July.
The month is the "second-most important" of the year for tax receipts, as it's when most self-employed people make their payments on account towards their annual self-assessment bill.
Revenues from self-assessment income tax were the main reason for the improved figures last month as they were £800m higher than last year at around £8bn, says the BBC.
Corporation tax revenue is also traditionally strong in July but thanks to a new methodology that "smoothes" receipts over the whole year this fell slightly compared to July 2016, says Reuters.
Howard Archer, chief economic adviser at the EY Item Club, says the Chancellor now has a "very decent chance" of undershooting his 2017/2018 borrowing target.
Britain's public finances are far from out of the woods, however.
For the first seven months of the year as a whole, and after higher than expected borrowing in June, the government is £1.9bn, or nine per cent, further in the red than it was in 2016 with a cumulative deficit of £22.8bn.
Hammond is expected to use his autumn Budget to push back the date when the budget is projected to return to annual surplus to either 2026 or 2027, says the Times. This would mean a period of up to 26 years in the red since the last annual surplus in 2001.
It would mark the longest run of deficits since the Napoleonic era between 1793 and 1817. The country did not replicate that even in the world wars of the early 20th century.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Will Donald Trump wreck the Brexit deal?
Today's Big Question President-elect's victory could help UK's reset with the EU, but a free-trade agreement with the US to dodge his threatened tariffs could hinder it
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Marine Le Pen's fake jobs trial
The Explainer The far-right French leader could face a fine, jail time, and a five-year ban from public office if found guilty of embezzlement
By Abby Wilson Published
-
How to earn extra cash for Christmas
The Explainer The holiday season can be expensive but there are ways to bolster your festive finances
By Marc Shoffman, The Week UK Published
-
Labour shortages: the ‘most urgent problem’ facing the UK economy right now
Speed Read Britain is currently in the grip of an ‘employment crisis’
By The Week Staff Published
-
Will the energy war hurt Europe more than Russia?
Speed Read European Commission proposes a total ban on Russian oil
By The Week Staff Published
-
Will Elon Musk manage to take over Twitter?
Speed Read The world’s richest man has launched a hostile takeover bid worth $43bn
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Shoppers urged not to buy into dodgy Black Friday deals
Speed Read Consumer watchdog says better prices can be had on most of the so-called bargain offers
By The Week Staff Published
-
Ryanair: readying for departure from London
Speed Read Plans to delist Ryanair from the London Stock Exchange could spell ‘another blow’ to the ‘dwindling’ London market
By The Week Staff Published
-
Out of fashion: Asos ‘curse’ has struck again
Speed Read Share price tumbles following the departure of CEO Nick Beighton
By The Week Staff Published
-
Universal Music’s blockbuster listing: don’t stop me now…
Speed Read Investors are betting heavily that the ‘boom in music streaming’, which has transformed Universal’s fortunes, ‘still has a long way to go’
By The Week Staff Published
-
EasyJet/Wizz: battle for air supremacy
Speed Read ‘Wizz’s cheeky takeover bid will have come as a blow to the corporate ego’
By The Week Staff Published