Chancellor's £2bn Budget boost as VAT error sees borrowing revised

CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves has been given an extra £2billion wriggle room in her upcoming Budget after it was revealed that official Government borrowing figures have been overstated due to inaccurate data on VAT receipts.

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The Office for National Statistics (ONS) admitted that borrowing for the current financial year to August was £81.8billion, down from the £83.8billion previously reported.

It said the change was made after it was alerted to the errors in VAT receipt figures supplied by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), which were used to calculate the Government borrowing statistics published on September 19.