Friday 19 July 2013 4:37 am

National debt at its highest level since the 1960s

Public sector borrowing statistics for June have been released, and the ONS has the numbers in a variety of flavours, depending on your preferred measure (see below).

Sky's Ed Conway reports that national debt is at its highest proportion of GDP since the 1960s:

Britain's national debt has just gone through the £1.2 trillion mark. That puts it at 75% of GDP. Highest level since the late 1960s

— Ed Conway (@EdConwaySky) July 19, 2013

Importantly, the headline measure declares a fall from £11.9bn to £8.5bn, but if you exclude the tinkering of the statisticians, the non-distorted figure is £12.4bn.

So not a £3.4bn fall in borrowing, but a £0.5bn rise on the same measure. Another hefty rise hidden away by the number crunchers.

In 2012/13, public sector net borrowing excluding temporary effects of financial interventions and also excluding the effects of the transfer of the Royal Mail Pension Plan and the transfers from the Bank of England Asset Purchase Facility Fund was £116.5 billion. This is £2.1 billion lower than in 2011/12.
In 2012/13, public sector net borrowing excluding temporary effects of financial interventions (PSNBex) was £82.7 billion. This is £35.8 billion lower than in 2011/12 when it was £118.5 billion.
Since last month’s publication, 2012/13 public sector net borrowing (all measures) have been revised down by £2.3 billion as a result of updates to tax receipts.
In June 2013, public sector net borrowing excluding temporary effects of financial interventions and also excluding the effects of the transfers from the Bank of England Asset Purchase Facility Fund was £12.4 billion. This is £0.5 billion higher than in June 2012 when it was £11.9 billion.
In June 2013, public sector net borrowing excluding temporary effects of financial interventions (PSNBex) was £8.5 billion. This is £3.4 billion lower than in June 2012 when it was £11.9 billion.
In June 2013, public sector net borrowing excluding temporary effects of financial interventions (PSNB ex) has been reduced by £3.9 billion from transfers from the Bank of England Asset Purchase Facility Fund.
Public sector net debt excluding temporary effects of financial interventions (PSND ex) was £1,202.8 billion at the end of June 2013, equivalent to 74.9% of gross domestic product (GDP).