UK runs 15.4 billion pound budget surplus in January

Alsharq Tribune- Reuters

 Britain's government ran a budget surplus of 15.4 billion pounds ($19.5 billion) last month, official figures showed on Friday, below the 20 billion-pound surplus forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.

Britain's public finances typically show a surplus in January when annual income tax bills for the previous financial year fall due for many taxpayers.

The figures come as a number of economists have estimated that finance minister Rachel Reeves risks missing her debt reduction goals when the government's forecasters publish updated borrowing estimates on March 26.

Reeves' first budget last year left her with only 9.9 billion pounds of headroom to meet a target of balancing day-to-day spending and tax revenues by the 2029-30 financial year, despite announcing Britain's biggest tax rises in decades.

Since the budget, government borrowing costs have risen globally and British business sentiment and growth prospects have weakened, reflecting Reeves' 40 billion-pound tax rise and trade tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump.

($1 = 0.7891 pounds)