Public finance bulletin: November 2007

Headline Comparisons

• Central government current receipts in October were 4.4% higher than in the same month last year. Last month's Pre-Budget Report forecast for 2007-08 implies an increase over last year's levels of 6.0% for the year as a whole and of 6.7% for the period from September 2007 to March 2008. The latest figures show an increase over last year's levels of 5.0% for the year to date, and a 5.2% increase in September and October 2007 over the same two months last year.
• Central government current spending in October was 8.7% higher than in the same month last year. Last month's Pre-Budget Report forecast for 2007-08 implies an increase over last year's levels of 6.0% for the year as a whole and of 6.7% for the period from September 2007 to March 2008. The latest figures show an increase over last year's levels of 6.7% for the year to date, and an 8.0% increase in September and October 2007 over the same two months last year.
• Public sector net investment in October was £2.6bn compared to just £0.9bn in the same month in 2006. So far in 2007-08, a total amount of £12.7bn has been spent on public sector net investment, which is 24.6% higher than had been spent by the same point in 2006-07. Last month's Pre-Budget Report predicted that net investment in 2007-08 as a whole would be £29.7bn, which is 13.1% above last year's level and implies an increase of 18.8% for the period from September 2007 to March 2008.