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UK August public finances show further slippage, income tax weak
Britain's public finances continued to deteriorate in August after a weak start to the financial year, posing a challenge for Chancellor George Osborne as next year's national election approaches. The Office for National Statistics said public sector net borrowing, excluding state-controlled banks, totalled 11.6 billion pounds in August, up 6.1 percent from a year earlier, broadly in line with economists' expectations in a Reuters poll. Public borrowing for the tax year to date, excluding banks, was 45.4 billion pounds, 6.2 percent higher than between April and August 2013. Britain's government said in March that it ... (full story)