Some subscribers to Fortnightly Mailing are in roles where access to a regular low-volume, neutral commentary on the state of the public finances is valuable.
One good way to get this is by subscribing to the Institute for Fiscal Studies monthly Public Finance Bulletin, which provides a monthly three-paragraph update. Here, for example is the update for October.
Headline Comparisons
- Central government current receipts in September were 4.6% higher than in the same month last year. Last week's Pre-Budget Report forecast for 2007-08 implies an increase over last year's levels of 6.1% for the year as a whole and of 6.8% for the period from September 2007 to March 2008. The latest figures show an increase over last year's levels of 4.9 % for the year to date.
- Central government current spending in September was 5.4% higher than in the same month last year. Last week's Pre-Budget Report forecast for 2007-08 implies an increase over last year's levels of 5.1% for the year as a whole and of 4.1% for the period from September 2007 to March 2008. The latest figures show an increase over last year's levels of 6.3% for the year to date.
- Public sector net investment in September was £1.2bn, or 68%, higher than in the same month last year. Last week's Pre-Budget Report forecast for 2007-08 implies an increase of 13.1% for the year as a whole and an increase of 19.5% for the period from September 2007 to March 2008. Together, public sector net investment during the first six months of 2007-08 has been £10.3bn, which is 10.8% higher than in the same months of 2006-07.
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