Overall, Government debt stands at £893.4 billion – the equivalent to 62.1% of GDP.

However, the overall budget deficit for the year to March was revised down after a sharp rise in tax receipts at the end of the year.

Total borrowing last year was £145 billion, well below the budget forecast of £156 billion.

New Chancellor, George Osborne, has reiterated that one of its priorities is to reduce the deficit and he has already outlined plans to make £6 billion of savings over the next year, and further deficit reduction plans will be announced in the emergency Budget planned for June.

However, Mr Osborne’s predecessor, Alistair Darling, warned that cutting the deficit too quickly could pose a threat to the fragile recovery. Source:www.financemarkets.co.uk/