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Virus crisis pushes UK national debt to £2,000,000,000,000

Borrowing from April to July this year was the highest since records began, according to official statistics

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak Photo: Stefan Rousseau/Getty Images

The UK's public debt has skyrocketed to just over £2tn for the first time amid the government's spending drive to support the economy amid the coronavirus crisis.

In July, net debt – excluding public banks – increased by nearly £230bn from the same period last year to £2.004tn, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility. Debt was 100.5% of GDP, an increase of 20.4 percentage points compared to July 2019.

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