The UK borrowed £31.6bn last month, the highest level on record for November.
Latest ONS data shows that efforts to stave off the economic impact of the pandemic have now taken borrowing to £240.9bn since the start of the financial year, up from £188.6bn in the previous year.
The figure could reach £372.2bn by March and the end of the financial year, according to estimates.
November’s figure is the third highest of any month since 1993, the start of the ONS’ data series.
Ahead of his Budget in March, Sunak will be facing the highest ratio of debt to GDP since the early 1960s – 99.5 per cent – and an overall debt level of some £2.1trn.
While data in today also shows a slight positive revision in GDP figures – with a smaller shrinking in output over the April-June period of 18.8 per cent rather than 19.8 per cent, and a faster rebound to September of 16 per cent rather than 15.5 per cent – there will also be concerns over the outlook for growth.
These were exacerbated yesterday as Britain found its borders to other nations closed due to the discovery of a Covid-19 mutation, leading to a 1.7 per cent drop in the FTSE100 and the steepest Sterling fall for at least three months.
Quilter Investors portfolio manager Hinesh Patel says: “With a little help from the Bank of England, the government continued to shake the magic money tree in November.
“The borrowing looks disastrous, but there is simply no credible alternative to splashing the cash while the government attempts to pull the economy from its Covid-induced slumber. In reality, the pandemic overrides everything else and the Government will throw caution to the wind by fighting it now, and paying back later, made possible by the sponsorship of the Bank of England.
“One positive unintended consequence of this crisis has been to put the household balance sheet in its strongest position for decades. While many will have suffered a hit to their incomes or will have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic, there will be many more who will have managed to put more aside month after month and will have saved a substantial sum since March. We will be relying on these households to wake the economy from its hibernation in a big way next year and to sponsor the recovery through increased consumption.”
