Britain will still be borrowing nearly £100 billion a year and debt will be on a perilous upward spiral at the end of the present parliament as the state shoulders the cost of rebuilding the economy after the pandemic, the International Monetary Fund has warned.
In its latest World Economic Outlook, the organisation upgraded UK growth this year but set out a stark longer-term forecast for the public finances.
In 2025, Britain will still be borrowing 4.4 per cent of GDP, equivalent to £95 billion. The debt will have jumped from 85 per cent of national income in 2019 to 107 per cent, a level not seen since the end of the 1950s. The next general election is expected to be held in 2024.
