LONDON, April 23 Reuters Britain39;s government borrowed more than expected in March, capping the 202324 financial year with a budget deficit that was 6.6 billion pounds 8.1 billion higher than official forecasters expected, data showed on Tuesday.

British public sector net borrowing, excluding statecontrolled banks, was 11.94 billion pounds 14.74 billion in March, the Office for National Statistics said.

March39;s borrowing, the last of the 202324 financial year, was above the median forecast of 10.2 billion pounds in a Reuters poll of economists.

With borrowing for February and January also revised higher, the overall total for 202324 stood at 120.7 billion pounds.

While down 7.6 billion pounds on a year ago, it was 6.6 billion pounds more than forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility last month.

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Reporting by Andy Bruce and Sachin Ravikumar; editing by Sarah Young

Source Reuters