UK annual borrowing tumbled by more than half after costly emergency Covid measures were withdrawn, official data showed Tuesday.
Public sector net borrowing sank to £151.8 billion ($193.4 billion, 180.5 billion euros) in the year to the end of March, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.
That was still the third largest amount on record and overshot Britain’s official forecast of £128 billion.
And analysts warned of other troubles as the UK battles decades-high inflation.
“Risks remain for the months ahead, notably stemming from the mounting cost-of-living crisis, which is set to weigh on confidence and economic activity in the coming year,” noted economist Karl Thompson at the Centre for Economics and Business Research.
Emergency pandemic support measures had sent borrowing rocketing in the prior 2020-2021 financial year to a record £317.6 billion.
Britain has pumped hundreds of billions of pounds into the economy during the pandemic, including a costly furlough scheme that kept millions of private sector workers in jobs.
As a result, total government debt topped £2.3 trillion at the end of March, or more than 96 percent of GDP.
Britain’s vast UK stimulus programme has been wound down in the wake of a speedy vaccination drive and the withdrawal of Covid restrictions.
The ONS also revealed that tax revenues rebounded as the economy reopened from lockdown.
The tax take climbed to almost £620 billion, up more than £94 billion on the prior year.