Headline comparisons

• Central government current receipts in December were 5.5% lower than in the same month last year. The Pre-Budget Report forecast for 2008-09 published in November implies a fall relative to last year's levels of 0.6% for the year as a whole and a fall of 2.7% for the period from November 2008 to March 2009. The latest figures show a fall relative to last year's levels of 0.5% for the year to date, with a 6.2% fall in November and December 2008 compared to the same two months last year.

• Central government current spending in December was 5.9% higher than in the same month last year. The Pre-Budget Report forecast for 2008-09 published in November implies an increase over last year's levels of 5.8% for the year as a whole and of 5.9% for the period from November 2008 to March 2009. The latest figures show an increase over last year's levels of 5.8% for the year to date, and a 5.8% increase in November and December 2008 over the same two months last year.

• Public sector net investment in December was £3.5bn, the same as in December 2007. So far in 2008-09, a total amount of £20.9bn has been spent on public sector net investment, which is 42.3% higher than had been spent by the same point in 2007-08. The Pre-Budget Report forecast for 2008-09 published in November predicted that net investment in 2008-09 as a whole would be £36.5bn, which is 22.5% above last year's level and implies an increase of 3.9% for the period from November 2008 to March 2009.

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