U.K. Government Borrowing in August Falls On Year

U.K. government borrowing in August declined on year as a rise in tax receipts outpaced a smaller increase in spending.

Government borrowing in August was GBP5.7 billion ($7.7 billion) compared with GBP6.9 billion a year earlier, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said Thursday. Tax receipts rose 3.5% over the period, while spending inched up 0.7%.

The figures show the government is more or less on track to meet official borrowing forecasts for the fiscal year, which were published in March. In the five months since the start of the fiscal year in April, the government borrowed just under half of the GBP58.3 billion predicted for the full 12 months.

Britain's treasury chief, Philip Hammond, is coming under increasing pressure from lawmakers to relax his grip on public-sector spending following years of belt-tightening. Lawmakers are in particular calling for an end to the longstanding cap on annual pay increases for police officers, doctors and other public-sector workers.

Mr. Hammond is due to publish his latest tax and spending plans Nov. 22.

Write to Jason.Douglas@wsj.com and Toby.Luckhurst@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 21, 2017 04:56 ET (08:56 GMT)