<p><p><p><p><h4>Headline Comparisons</h4><ul><li><b>Central government current receipts</b> in January were 7.7% lower than in the same month last year. The Pre-Budget Report forecast for 2009-10 published in December implies a fall relative to last year's levels of 7.3% for the year as a whole and of 3.7% for the period from November 2009 to March 2010. The latest figures show a fall relative to last year's levels of 7.8% for the year to date, with a 3.3% fall between November and January 2009 compared to the same three months last year.<p><li><b>Central government current spending</b> in January was 9.6% higher than in the same month last year. The Pre-Budget Report forecast for 2009-10 published in December implies an increase relative to last year's levels of 7.4% for the year as a whole and of 9.8% for the period from November 2009 to March 2010. The latest figures show an increase relative to last year's levels of 5.8% for the year to date, with a 6.0% increase between November and January 2009 compared to the same three months last year. <p><li><b>Public sector net investment</b> in January was £5.5bn compared to £5.0bn in the same month last year. Together, public sector net investment over the first ten months of this financial year has been £31.7bn, which is 41.9% higher than in the same months of 2008-09. The Pre-Budget Report published in December suggested that net investment in 2009-10 would be about 29.8% above last year's level for the year as a whole.</li></ul></p></p></p></p>