Public finance bulletin: February 2006

<p><h4>Headline Comparisons</h4> </p><p><ul> </p><p><li><em class="bold">Central government current receipts</em> in January were 14.4% higher than in the same month last year. The December 2005 Pre-Budget Report forecast for 2005-06 implies an increase over last year's levels of 6.9% for the year as a whole and of 6.2% for the period from November 2005 to March 2006. The latest figures show an increase over last year's levels of 7.8% for the year to date and an 8.5% increase in November 2005 to January 2006 over the same three months last year. </p><p><li><em class="bold">Central government current spending</em> in January was 7.4% higher than in the same month last year. The December 2005 Pre-Budget Report forecast for 2005-06 implies an increase over last year's levels of 4.8% for the year as a whole and of 3.5% for the period from November 2005 to March 2006. The latest figures show an increase over last year's levels of 5.8% for the year to date and a 2.6% increase in November 2005 to January 2006 over the same three months last year. </p><p><li><em class="bold">Public sector net investment</em> in January was £0.7bn lower (21.2%) than in the same month last year. The December 2005 Pre-Budget Report forecast for 2005-06 implies an increase of 26.9% for the year as a whole and an increase of 2.7% for the period from November 2005 to March 2006. The latest figures show an increase over last year's levels of 46.7% for the year to date and a 24.7% increase in November 2005 to January 2006 over the same two months last year. </p><p></ul></p>