UK debt soars to 99.6% of GDP

The UK borrowed £35.5 billion in June 2020, roughly five times more year-on-year and the third highest monthly figure on record.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), last month's figure took the UK's total debt to £198 trillion - 99.6% of the UK's entire GDP.

Provisional estimates indicate that borrowing in Q1 2020/21 - April to June 2020 - was more than double that borrowed in the whole of 2019/20.

Government spending in 2020/21 has soared in response to the COVID-19 crisis, and reviews are already under way to claw some of that back.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has commissioned a comprehensive review of the capital gains tax system, while inheritance tax is primed for change.

MPs have also called for a review of pension tax relief, which cost the Treasury around £38bn in 2018/19.

However, many experts predict a further phase of borrowing to be announced in the autumn.

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