UK budget deficit rises to 23 bln stg in June
Record debt interest bill pushes up borrowing
Budget deficit on course to overshoot official forecast

LONDON, July 21 Reuters A surge in debt costs pushed up by soaring inflation to twice their previous monthly peak added to Britain39;s budget deficit in June, which was its highest since April 2021, data showed on Thursday.

The Office for National Statistics said public sector net borrowing excluding stateowned banks rose to 22.879 billion pounds 27.44 billion from 12.560 billion pounds in May.

A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to a deficit of 23 billion pounds.

The figures showed Britain racked up debt interest of 19.4 billion pounds in June alone, more than double the previous record.

The ONS said the leap in debt costs reflected a big April increase in the retail price index gauge of inflation, which is the benchmark for indexlinked government bonds.

The uplift applied in June to these linkers which represent roughly a third of the stock of British government bonds was 16.7 billion bounds.

Over the first three months of the 202223 financial year starting in April, Britain has borrowed 55.4 billion pounds.

While this is 5.7 billion pounds less than that the same point in the previous year, it represents a roughly 3.6 billion pounds overshoot versus forecasts made in March by the Office for Budget Responsibility watchdog.

This may limit the ability of the next Prime Minister to provide more relief for…