that government borrowing in the financial year to February was £138.4bn.
According to the new figures, the government collected £53.7bn in taxes this February, up by more than £4bn in comparison with last year. It does this by selling bonds - a promise to make payments to whoever holds it on certain dates - essentially an interest-paying "IOU".Surging food prices, energy bills and fuel prices have pushed costs up for households, but rising inflation also means the government is paying more in interest payments on its debt.
The payments are pegged to the Retail Prices Index measure of inflation - which reached 7.8% in January. In response to the figures, Mr Sunak said: "The ongoing uncertainty caused by global shocks means it's more important than ever to take a responsible approach to the public finances.