Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-20.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the net level of borrowing by the public sector in October 2015.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
The government has made significant progress to date in reducing borrowing – the deficit has more than halved as a share of GDP since 2009-10 and as the latest Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast shows, the national debt as a share of GDP is forecast to be falling this year for the first time in over a decade. October public sector finance figures show government borrowing is falling, down £6.6 billion so far this year compared to last year. However, the job is not yet done. The government is committed to eliminating the deficit and returning the public finances to a more sustainable path. To achieve this, the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 sets out the action required to return the country to surplus over the course of this Parliament.
On the basis of these plans, the latest OBR forecast estimates that borrowing in 2015-16 will be on a like-for-like basis £73.5bn, £0.6bn lower relative to Summer Budget. The forecast also shows the government is on track to meet its fiscal targets, with a budget surplus of £10.1bn by 2019-20 and debt falling as a percentage of GDP in 2015-16 and for each year in this Parliament.
