BridgeNews
The following tables show UK February public-sector finance statistics published jointly by the Treasury and the Office for National Statistics. Figures are shown in billions of sterling. A minus sign indicates a repayment, except for the current budget surplus, where it indicates a deficit.
The government has redefined how it measures public finances. Public Sector Net Borrowing is on an accrued basis and is derived by subtracting financial transactions, including privatizations, from the PSNCR.
PSNCR (the old PSBR) is on a cash basis, meaning accruals adjustments between the 2 measures often make up the bulk of the difference.
The difference is clear in the current 2000-2001 financial year: on a cash basis, the government records the full amount of the multi-billion windfall it has received from the sale of radio spectrum licenses, but only a small part of this is recorded under PSNB.
Feb Feb Apr-Feb Apr-Feb
2001 2000 2000-2001 1999-00
PSNB -3.508 -2.724 -21.164 -16.526
Current Budget Surplus 4.371 3.739 24.026 18.899
Total borrowing (PSNCR) -2.862 -2.636 -43.644 -15.568
Central govt net cash req. -2.006 -1.785 -42.333 -15.200
Local authorities -0.249 -0.466 -0.466 0.062
Public corporations -0.607 -0.385 -0.845 -0.430

The following table shows central government receipts and outlays, on a cash basis. The final column shows the change in percentage terms for the cumulative totals in the financial year so far compared to the same period in the last financial year.

Feb Feb % Apr-Feb Apr-Feb %
2001 2000 change 2000-2001 1999-2000 change
Central Govt Receipts: 28.824 27.486 4.9 338.316 295.301 14.6
Inland Revenue 14.623 14.039 4.2 138.539 129.596 6.9
Income tax 11.508 9.998 15.1 96.994 87.592 10.7
Corporation tax 0.660 1.208 -45.4 31.469 33.497 -6.1
Customs and Excise 8.812 8.779 0.4 95.380 90.269 5.7
Value added tax 5.087 5.066 0.4 54.976 52.726 4.3
Social Security 5.232 4.937 6.0 53.101 49.701 6.8
Central Govt Outlays: 26.818 25.701 4.3 295.983 280.102 5.7
Net dept outlays 25.042 23.848 5.0 273.082 257.522 6.0