Business Drive

Surging inflation led interest payments on government debt to hit the highest amount for May on record. Interest payments paid by the government for last month hit £7.6bn, up £3.1bn from a year earlier. Government borrowing fell in May from a year earlier but still remained higher than pre-Covid levels. The Office for National Statistics says borrowing was £14bn, down £4bn from a year earlier however the figure was still the third-highest May borrowing since monthly records began in 1993 and were also £3.7bn more than the Office for Budget Responsibility had to forecast. The recent high levels of debt interest payments are largely a result of higher inflation.