Public finance bulletin: February 2008

<p><h4>Headline Comparisons</h4><ul><li><em class="bold"> Central government current receipts </em> in January were 12.0% higher than in the same month last year. The Pre-Budget Report forecast for 2007-08 published in October implies an increase over last year's levels of 6.0% for the year as a whole and of 6.6% for the period from September 2007 to March 2008. The latest figures show an increase over last year's levels of 5.8% for the year to date, and a 6.6% increase between September 2007 and January 2008 over the same five months last year. <li><em class="bold"> Central government current spending </em> in January was 9.3% higher than in the same month last year. The Pre-Budget Report forecast for 2007-08 published in October implies an increase over last year's levels of 6.5% for the year as a whole and of 6.6% for the period from September 2007 to March 2008. The latest figures show an increase over last year's levels of 6.3% for the year to date, and a 6.2% increase between September 2007 and January 2008 over the same five months last year. <li><em class="bold"> Public sector net investment </em> in January was £2.8bn compared to £2.9bn in the same month in 2007. So far in 2007-08, a total amount of £18.0bn has been spent on public sector net investment, which is 7.0% higher than had been spent by the same point in 2006-07. The Pre-Budget Report forecast for 2007-08 published in October predicted that net investment in 2007-08 as a whole would be £29.7bn, which is 15.1% above last year's level and implies an increase of 23.4% for the period from September 2007 to March 2008.</p></p></p> </p><p></p>