Public finance bulletin: February 2009

Headline comparisons

• Central government current receipts in January were 11.0% lower than in the same month last year. The Pre-Budget Report forecast for 2008-09 published in November implies a fall relative to last year's levels of 0.6% for the year as a whole and a fall of 2.6% for the period from November 2008 to March 2009. The latest figures show a fall relative to last year's levels of 2.4% for the year to date, with a 9.4% fall between November 2008 and January 2009 compared to the same three months last year.

• Central government current spending in January was 6.7% higher than in the same month last year. The Pre-Budget Report forecast for 2008-09 published in November implies an increase over last year's levels of 5.8% for the year as a whole and of 6.2% for the period from November 2008 to March 2009. The latest figures show an increase over last year's levels of 5.5% for the year to date, and a 5.3% increase between November 2008 and January 2009 compared to the same three months last year.
• Public sector net investment in January was £5.0bn, compared to £1.4bn in January 2008. So far in 2008-09, a total amount of £24.7bn has been spent on public sector net investment, which is 54% higher than had been spent by the same point in 2007-08. The Pre-Budget Report forecast for 2008-09 published in November predicted that net investment in 2008-09 as a whole would be £36.5bn, which is 23% above last year's level and implies an increase of 5% for the period from November 2008 to March 2009.