Latest news with #publicsector
The Guardian
7 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
UK borrowing rises to £17.7bn, adding to pressure on Rachel Reeves
Higher tax receipts were unable to prevent a rise in public sector borrowing in May to £17.7bn, up from £17bn a year earlier and the second highest for the month on record. A poll of City economists had forecast public sector net borrowing (PSNB) – the difference between public spending and income – would be £17.1bn. The figures will add to the concerns that the government is struggling to bring down the annual deficit to keep within strict spending rules. While last October's budget allowed for more than £100bn of extra investment spending, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said day-to-day Whitehall budgets must remain within strict limits. However, the measure of shortfall in day-to-day spending – the current budget deficit – remained below the forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which provides independent forecasts of the public finances. Reeves has introduced extra taxes on businesses – including a rise in national insurance contributions – which were implemented in April. The OBR said it expected the current deficit to be £13bn in May, but it was £12.8bn, marking the second consecutive month when the deficit fell under the OBR prediction. Backbench Labour MPs are expected to rebel against cuts to benefits worth more than £5bn in the welfare bill introduced to parliament on Wednesday. Most major economic forecasters, including the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of England have downgraded the UK's growth prospects this year, potentially reducing tax receipts over the longer term and forcing the chancellor to make further spending cuts or raise taxes to bridge the gap. In March, the Office for Budget Responsibility said it expected borrowing to fall from £152bn in 2024-25 to £117.7bn in the 2025-26 financial year. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion However, the following month's deficit came in at £20.2bn, which was £1bn more than the same month a year earlier and higher than the £17.9bn economists predicted. April's borrowing was the fourth biggest on record, surpassing only deficits in April 2020 and 2021 during the height of the Covid pandemic, and in April 2012 linked to costs related to the privatisation of Royal Mail.
Reuters
8 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
UK public finances show 17.7 billion-pound deficit in May
LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) - Britain's government borrowed 17.686 billion pounds ($23.84 billion) in May, official data showed on Friday. A Reuters poll of economists showed a median forecast of 17.1 billion pounds for public sector net borrowing. ($1 = 0.7447 pounds)
Zawya
10 hours ago
- Business
- Zawya
Saudi bank credit records annual growth of over $118.13bln by end of April 2025
RIYADH — Bank credit granted to the public and private sectors in Saudi Arabia reached SR3,126,381 million (over SR3.126 trillion) by the end of April 2025, according to the monthly statistical bulletin issued by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) for April. This marks an annual growth of 16.5 percent and an increase of more than SR443.018 billion compared to the same period in 2024, when bank credit stood at SR2.683 trillion. Quarterly, bank credit continued to rise at all levels, recording a growth of five percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, increasing by SR146.411 billion. By the end of the first quarter of 2025, bank credit had grown from over SR2.955 trillion to over SR3.101 trillion. On a monthly basis, bank credit recorded a growth of 0.8 percent, rising by SR24.420 billion, compared to March 2025, when it stood at SR3,101,961 million. Bank credit granted to the public and private sectors was distributed across more than 17 diverse economic activities, serving as a key driver in achieving comprehensive and sustainable economic growth and contributing to the goals of Saudi Vision 2030. According to SAMA data, long-term credit (for over three years) accounted for 49 percent of total bank credit, valued at over SR1.524 trillion. Short-term credit (less than one year) represented 36 percent, amounting to over SR1.135 trillion. Medium-term credit (from one to three years) comprised about 15 percent, totaling SR465.937 billion. © Copyright 2022 The Saudi Gazette. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Daily Mail
17 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
A £1bn bonfire of SNP quangos and bloated public sector? Don't hold your breath!
Quangos will be merged and jobs axed under SNP proposals to strip £1 billion a year of costs from Scotland's 'bloated' public sector. In a blueprint described as 'word soup' by unions and opposition politicians, measures considered will include cutting spending by a fifth on the 'corporate functions' or backroom costs of the Scottish Government and other public bodies over the next 10 years. Public Finance Minister Ivan McKee said it included proposals to 'remove, amalgamate or change' the number of public bodies, as well as sharing backroom services between different organisations. New guidance on redeployment and severance policies for public sector bodies will also be introduced, while there will be a greater shift towards digital services and communications. Opponents dismissed the proposals as a 'wish list' and condemned the lack of details about where the savings would be made and which quangos will be asked. Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Craig Hoy said: 'After much hype, the SNP government has produced a 49-page wish-list of word soup that fails to mention waste once. 'It begs the question as to why the SNP have not thought to make these savings at any point over their 18 years in power while they have been wasting taxpayers' money on a colossal scale. 'There is still an astonishing lack of detail as to where these savings will be made, or what quangos will be axed. The public simply will not trust the SNP to suddenly tackle the enormous waste they have presided over.' McKee said: 'Through the tools at our disposal, the efficiency workstreams in our strategy will reduce identified costs on Scottish Government and public body spend on corporate functions by 20 per cent over the next five years, and that equates to an annualised £1 billion cost reduction by 2029-30. 'This will require every part of the public sector to reduce the cost of doing business to prioritise the front line. All public bodies are already required to deliver best value, but this is about going further and faster. It is about taking all available opportunities to introduce and embed efficiency through automation, digitisation, estate rationalisation, and changing the delivery landscape. 'This is about delivering significant change - including structural reform in government and for public bodies, where that is needed.' He said there needs to be 'better joined-up services' and the public sector needs to be 'ready to reshape our workforce', and added: 'Everyone recognises that things must change, but that creates challenges, as well as opportunities, for employees. 'So we will work with partners, staff and trade unions to ensure we have the right number of people in the right roles to deliver real and meaningful change, and that staff very importantly are empowered to make services better.' During his speech, he also admitted that 'despite increased investment, public satisfaction with services has fallen'. The document published yesterday set out 18 different 'workstreams' where reforms can be introduced, as well as some specific proposals. Most of the measures still lack full details or costings and will continue to be worked on by officials. One proposal is to 'remove, amalgamate or change the number of public bodies where doing so will increase efficiency, remove duplication and improve service delivery', as well as to 'identify duplication across public bodies and work with those bodies to share processes/services'. Other plans propose to share services between different bodies, while the document also promises to consider new 'ways of working' for staff. It proposes 'a collective approach to recruitment, promotion and performance management' across public bodies, and a review of reporting and scrutiny requirements. It also promises a shift towards digital services, with 25 per cent of all Scottish Government, agency and quango correspondence by digital means by 2030, which it said would save £100 million a year. A pilot of a Scottish Government app as 'a gateway to personalised public services' is also proposed for this financial year, with the first use expected to be for 'proof of age'. Data on corporate function costs will be collected and published on all public bodies to 'drive efficiencies' and remove duplication, while new financial targets will be set for operating and staff costs. The plan also talks about 'promote best practice guidance for workforce change', including the approach to redeployment and severance policy. The Scottish Government will also 'further develop our shared services thinking and propositions across a range of services'. Trade union leaders hit out at 'illogical' cuts to staffing at a time of growing pressure on services. STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer said: 'Whenever government ministers speak of public sector 'efficiencies', workers anxiously hold their breath. 'These cuts, prepacked as reforms, miss the mark entirely. Simply put: you can't fix public services by cutting the very people who keep them running. 'Talk of reducing headcount while NHS waiting times spiral, A&E departments are overwhelmed and social care is in crisis is as reckless as it is illogical.' As Mr McKee unveiled the proposals, fiscal experts demanded a full roadmap to public sector reform. At an event hosted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, said: 'The Fiscal Commission and others are pointing out that we have a significant gap in the way we spend public money compared to the money that we're receiving, so there are difficult choices coming our way as a country.'
Telegraph
19 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
SNP plans to cut £1bn from Scotland's huge public sector
The SNP has unveiled pans to cut £1 billion from Scotland's huge public sector after admitting there was 'unnecessary duplication' in the system. Ivan McKee, the public finance minister, said state spending on 'corporate functions' would be cut by 20 per cent over the next five years. In a statement at Holyrood, he admitted that 'public satisfaction with services has fallen' in Scotland despite record funding from Westminster and higher taxes. Mr McKee unveiled a 49-page 'reform strategy' that said there was 'unnecessary and unhelpful duplication in the system, including multiple providers of similar services'. It pledged to 'remove, amalgamate or change the number of public bodies where doing so will increase efficiency, remove duplication and improve service delivery'. However, the blueprint did not state which Scottish government agencies or quangos would face cuts, or the number of civil service jobs that would go. The Scottish Tories said he had produced a 'wish list of word soup that fails to mention waste once' and attacked the 'astonishing lack of detail'. Craig Hoy, their shadow finance secretary, said: 'It begs the question as to why the SNP have not thought to make these savings at any point over their 18 years in power while they have been wasting taxpayers' money on a colossal scale.' Around 600,000 people are employed in Scotland's public sector, making up 22 per cent of the total workforce, compared to about 18 per cent in the UK as a whole. They are also paid £1,500 on average per year more north of the Border. The public sector pay bill has also swollen to £25 billion, more than half the SNP Government's money for day-to-day spending on public services. Earlier this year, Scotland's Information Commissioner said he was 'astonished' at the 'sheer number of public bodies' in Scotland. David Hamilton said there were thousands 'and I keep finding new ones'. He also disclosed that he played 'public authority bingo' with the auditor general, where they ask: 'Have you heard of this one? Have you heard of that one?' about quangos. Mr McKee told MSPs that the £1 billion cost cuts by 2029-30 'will require every part of the public sector to reduce the cost of doing business to prioritise the front line'. He said: 'All public bodies are already required to deliver best value, but this is about going further, and faster. 'It is about taking all available opportunities to introduce and embed efficiency through automation, digitisation, estate rationalisation, and changing the delivery landscape.' Pressed by Mr Hoy to specify what cuts would be made, he said: 'Just swinging a big axe isn't going to deliver services. We've seen that across the Atlantic, where Elon Musk, who's no longer with the Trump administration precisely because he went in with a big axe and started cutting stuff and it immediately backfired because he didn't know what he was doing.' Mr Hoy said: 'There is still an astonishing lack of detail as to where these savings will be made, or what quangos will be axed. 'The public simply will not trust the SNP to suddenly tackle the enormous waste they have presided over.' The strategy promised to save 'hundreds of millions' of pounds with 'efficiencies' over the next five years and to cut duplication by 'better joining up services.' It also committed to a greater focus on 'prevention' to 'avoid spending billions trying to address economic and social problems caused by issues like poor health'. But Roz Foyer, general secretary of the STUC, said: 'Whenever government ministers speak of public sector 'efficiencies', workers anxiously hold their breath. 'These cuts, pre-packed as reforms, miss the mark entirely. Simply put: you can't fix public services by cutting the very people who keep them running.'
