Government borrowing rose by £3.3bn in August following higher spending on benefits and public services, including pay.

Official figures show that borrowing – the difference between spending and tax revenue – reached to £13.7bn last month.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that tax income “grew strongly” but this was outweighed by some benefits being increased such as the carer’s allowance and the disability living allowance.

At the same time, public services costs rose, taking the overall figure to the highest borrowing for August since during the Covid pandemic in 2021.

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