Rishi Sunak has some financial headroom to work with. Here’s why he probably won’t use it

Borrowing for the financial year to date has come in quite a bit below expectations, writes James Moore – so what will the chancellor have in mind?

The chancellor is under pressure to deal with the worsening cost of living crisis (PA)

There are those who would be inclined to look at the latest UK borrowing figures as a reason to look towards the strongest spirits in the drinks cabinet.

Britain’s net debt stood at £2.3 trillion at the end of Feb 2022, which amounts to 94.7 per cent of GDP, putting it at a level not seen since the early 1960s.

In February, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, wrote £13.1bn of IOUs, the second-highest since monthly records began in 1993. While the figure was £2.4bn less than the same month last year, it was £12.8bn higher than in February 2020, just before the Covid-19 pandemic arrived and turned the world on its head.