Responding to the latest ONS public sector finances data, Isabel Stockton, Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies said:

"On a 12-month rolling basis, borrowing has been falling since April, and falling faster than expected at the Budget. But at 10.8% of national income, today's figures show that borrowing over the year to July was still high compared to the long-run pre-COVID average of 2.5%. Even if, as recent revisions to economic forecasts suggest, some of this improvement persists the coming Spending Review will still require some very difficult decisions and, most likely, more generous spending totals than currently pencilled in by the Chancellor given the myriad pressures on public services and the benefit system following the pandemic."