Borrowing in the UK rose more than expected last month, which means the government borrowed nearly £15bn more than forecast over the year than in the previous fiscal year, underlining the challenges the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, faces.
Borrowing – the difference between total public sector spending and income – was £16.4bn in March; this was £2.8bn higher than in March 2024, and the third highest March borrowing since monthly records began in 1993.
This means the government borrowed £151.9bn in the fiscal year to March – £20.7bn more than in the previous year, and £14.6bn more than the £137.3bn forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility, the arbiter of the public finances.
Stocks and the dollar bounced back and oil prices rose, as Donald Trump rowed back on his attacks on the US's top central banker, whom he called a “major loser” on Monday for now cutting interest rates. The US president said he had no plans to fire the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, and hints at lower tariffs for China, also from the US Treasury secretary, cheered investors.
On Wall Street yesterday, the Dow Jones industrial average, which tracks 30 large US companies, the broader S&P 500 and the Nasdaq all ended the day up more than 2.5% after Monday’s sell-off.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei rose by nearly 2%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 2.2% and the South Korean Kospi gained 1.6%.
The dollar, which hit a three-year low yesterday before recovering, rose by 0.25% against a basket of major currencies.
In oil markets, Brent crude is 1.3% ahead at $68.32 a barrel, while US crude rose by 1.37% to $64.55 a barrel.
European stocks have also opened higher, as a wave of relief spread across markets.
The UK’s FTSE 100 index is up by 1.2% at 8,430, while the Italian FTSE MiB rose by 1.4%.
Gold, which soared through $3,500 an ounce yesterday, a new record high, is down by more than 2% at $3,307 an ounce, as demand for the safe haven asset receded.
The agenda
• 9am BST: eurozone HCOB PMI surveys flash for April
• 9.30am BST: S&P Global PMIs flash for April
• 10am BST: eurozone trade for February
• 2.45pm BST: US S&P Global PMIs flash for April
• 5.30pm BST: the Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, speaks
We'll be tracking all the main events throughout the day … |
Even Trump must know that firing the chair of the Fed would be self-defeating 
