UK public sector borrowing rises more than expected in November

UK public sector borrowing rose £1.3bn to £14.2bn in November from the same month last year, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics.

The figure was far higher than the £11.8bn economists had been expecting.

The ONS pointed out that last year’s numbers were boosted by fines of around £1.1bn spread over November and December after several banks were penalised by the Financial Conduct Authority for failures in their foreign currency operations.

Public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks fell by £6.6bn to £66.9bn between April and November compared with the same period last year.

"The public finances still are not improving as quickly as the Chancellor anticipates, raising the prospect that he will have to announce additional austerity measures to achieve his goal of budget surplus by the end of this parliament," said Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.