U.K. Government Borrowing Runs Ahead of Plan as Budget Looms

The U.K. government’s borrowing continued to run ahead of projections in October, a deterioration in its finances that it will aim to correct with tax rises and some spending cuts in its annual budget statement next week.

The Office for National Statistics on Friday said the government borrowed 17.4 billion pounds ($22.75 billion) in October, bringing the total for the first seven months of the fiscal year to 116.8 billion pounds, 9.9 billion pounds above the amount projected by the Office for Budget Responsibility in its March forecasts.