LONDON, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Britain's government borrowing in December 2024 reached its highest level in four years, according to the latest data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday.

The gap between public sector spending and income stood at 17.8 billion pounds (22.07 billion U.S. dollars) in December 2024, an increase of 10.1 billion pounds compared to December 2023. The budget deficit also hit a two-year high. It amounted to 10 billion pounds in December 2024, 7.3 billion more than the same month in 2023.

Interest payments on central government debt totaled 8.3 billion pounds in December 2024, driven primarily by movements in the Retail Prices Index. This represents an increase of 3.8 billion pounds compared to December 2023 and marks the third-highest December figure since monthly records began in January 1997.

The ONS data also revealed that borrowing in the financial year ending December 2024 reached 129.9 billion pounds, up 8.9 billion pounds from the same period in the previous financial year. This figure is the second-highest financial year-to-December borrowing since records began in January 1993.

Rising borrowing costs are expected to heighten fiscal pressure on the government, which has pledged to boost growth and spending. (1 British pound = 1.23 U.S. dollar) Enditem

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