Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, said: “The impact of government policy choices and U-turns was clearly evident in the latest set of public sector finances.
“Changes to employer National Insurance helped net the Treasury an additional £3 billion in November but an additional £1.8 billion has been shuffled to the minus column for the financial year after the government ditched its unpopular winter fuel policy.
“There was other good news to help keep borrowing below last November’s figure as higher wages also meant more income tax flooding in and falling inflation pushed down borrowing costs to the lowest level for the month for six years.
“Finding ways to balance the books isn’t easy and rarely popular as an ageing population and rising unemployment adds to the demand on the public purse. Whilst November’s borrowing is the lowest since 2021 it’s still above where economists had expected it to come in and significantly higher than the OBR had forecast in March.”
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