UK budget deficit jumps 27% in the first eight months of fiscal year

The figures served as a reminder of the fragility of the so-called fiscal headroom which Sunak hopes will allow for more tax cuts ahead of elections

Britain's statistics office revised up borrowing for each of the eight months by £3.7bn (€4.27bn) in total.

Britain ran up a higher-than-expected budget deficit in November and borrowing in previous months was revised higher too, underscoring the limited room for pre-election tax cuts by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government.

Public sector net borrowing, excluding state-owned banks, totalled £14.3bn (€16.5bn) in November, official data showed on Thursday. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to £12.9bn (€14.9bn).