Hopes that the UK government will hit this year's borrowing forecasts were boosted today after figures revealed it enjoyed its highest surplus for four years in January.
The Office for National Statistics said the Government recorded a net surplus of £7.8 billion excluding interventions such as bank bail-outs, up £2.5 billion on the previous year and its biggest figure since January 2008.
January is traditionally a bumper month for tax returns, which was helped by its bank levy, while expenditure was brought down by the UK government's ongoing austerity measures.
In a further boost to Chancellor George Osborne, net borrowing in the previous nine months of the year was revised down by £2.1 billion to £93.5 billion after local government spending was lower than previously thought.
The better than expected figures will boost hopes the UK government will beat targets set by the Office for Budget Responsibility to reduce its borrowing to £127 billion this financial year.
January's surplus helped push the government's underlying net debt back below the £1 trillion mark, to £988.7 billion. But this figure is expected to return to fresh highs in the coming months.
