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Latest figures

• This bulletin contains the second estimates of outturn for the 2012/13 public sector finances. These estimates are updated throughout the year as finalised data are received from public sector bodies.
• In 2012/13, public sector net borrowing (PSNB ex) was £85.1 billion; this is £35.8 billion lower net borrowing than in 2011/12, when net borrowing was £120.9 billion.
• In 2012/13, public sector net borrowing and public sector net investment are reduced by £28.0 billion as a result of the transfer of the Royal Mail Pension Plan in April 2012.
• In 2012/13, public sector net borrowing and public sector current budget deficit are reduced by £6.4 billion as a result of cash transfers from the Bank of England Asset Purchase Facility Fund to Government.
• After removing the effects of the transfer of the Royal Mail Pension Plan and the transfers from the Bank of England Asset Purchase Facility the 2012/13 estimate of public sector net borrowing, of £119.5 billion, is marginally lower than net borrowing in 2011/12, when net borrowing was £120.9 billion.
• Comparisons for April are affected by a number of factors: The April 2012 net borrowing was reduced by £28.0 billion as a result of the transfer of the Royal Mail Pension Plan. Also in April 2012, £2.3 billion was transferred from the Bank of England to HM Treasury following the winding up of the Special Liquidity Scheme (SLS). In April 2013, £3.9 billion was transferred from the Bank of England Asset Purchase Facility Fund (BEAPFF) to Government. All these transfers to government have the effect of reducing public sector net borrowing (PSNB ex), central government net cash requirement and public sector net debt (PSND ex).
• Public sector current budget deficit was £5.6 billion in April 2013; this is a £2.5 billion lower deficit than in April 2012, when there was a deficit of £8.2 billion.
• Public sector net borrowing (PSNB ex) was £6.3 billion in April 2013; this is £25.4 billion higher net borrowing than in April 2012, when net borrowing was £-19.1 billion.
• After removing the impacts of the transfer relating to the BEAPFF, public sector net borrowing in April 2013 was £10.2 billion; this is £1.3 billion higher net borrowing than the figure in April 2012 with the impacts of the Royal Mail pension transfer removed. However, also removing the effect of the SLS transfer from April 2012 results in April 2013 being £1.0 billion lower than in April 2012.
• Public sector net debt was £1,185.3 billion at the end of April 2013, equivalent to 75.2% of gross domestic product (GDP).

Get all the tables for this publication in the data section of this publication.