In the News
Surge in borrowing takes UK national debt above 100% of GDP
19th June 2020
Wow! The latest data about the public finances sees government borrowing hit a record level in May 2020, and the biggest since records began (in 1993).
Total government borrowing was £55.2bn - a remarkable nine times larger than this time last year, to the extent that government debt exceeded the size of the economy for the first time since 1963. As a result, the fiscal deficit for the financial year is already over £100bn.
We've curated below some of the initial response to this news about the surge in government borrowing and debt. Paul Johnson from the IFS provides some important long-run historical context at the bottom of this page.
UK public debt exceeds GDP for 1st time since 1963
— Linda Yueh (@lindayueh) June 19, 2020
At end May 2020 was 100.9% of GDP
Debt was £1.95 trillion, increase of 20.5% compared with May 2019, largest year-on-year increase in debt as a percentage of GDP on record (monthly records began in 1993) https://t.co/uAJto5I9ty
Public sector net debt was £1,950.1 billion at the end of May 2020.
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) June 19, 2020
This is equivalent to 100.9% of GDP, the first time it has exceeded 100% since March 1963 https://t.co/HpZpRXQQFf
To any who think - debt looks unmanageable - austerity must result - it by no means inevitably follows. What counts is the cost of servicing debt, not the scale of it. As long as the economy grows faster in recovery than debt servicing costs, the burden of debt gets lighter.
— Andy Verity (@andyverity) June 19, 2020
UK public debt exceeds 100% of GDP for first time since 1963 https://t.co/ORv8UxoV0b
— Financial Times (@FT) June 19, 2020
By my reckoning, the @bankofengland will soon own about a third of all UK government debt in issue. When you consider how much of that government debt there is, that’s quite something. pic.twitter.com/unK5Y6hFWo
— Ed Conway (@EdConwaySky) June 18, 2020
This is worth a glance from the respected independent analysts Capital Economics: pic.twitter.com/GCkT7TBXns
— Andy Verity (@andyverity) June 19, 2020
Public sector debt exceeds 100% of GDP for first time since before even I was born. But as this chart shows that's not so unusual in the long sweep of history. https://t.co/COPRM0zlpb
— Paul Johnson (@PJTheEconomist) June 19, 2020
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