Retail sales and public finances data to show state of British economy – business live

2026-02-20 - 07:13

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news Newsflash: The UK government has racked up a record-breaking budget surplus in January. Britain’s public sector was £30.4bn in surplus last month, the Office for National Statistics reports, beating expectations of a surplus of around £24bn. “January – which is traditionally a strong month for self-assessed tax receipts – saw the highest surplus since monthly records began. “Revenue was strongly up on the same time last year, while spending was little changed, due to lower debt interest payments largely offsetting higher costs on public services and benefits. Continue reading...