The UK public sector finance statistics help measure the UK’s performance against government fiscal targets. An integral part of the…
Read more on Further down your way: an update on more localised data on public sector spending
Today, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced that the Government will use a broader definition of debt for its fiscal target, Public Sector Net Financial Liabilities (PSNFL), referred to by government as ‘net financial debt’. Jessica Barnaby explains how that statistic is defined and how it differs from the metric used before.
Read more on What exactly is PSNFL?: Explaining the new headline target for government debt
One of the ONS’s most watched figures is the level of public sector debt. Complied jointly with HM Treasury, this number is often compared with the overall size of the UK economy (GDP) and presented as a “debt to GDP ratio” to give it proper context. As this figure has recently been hovering around the 100% level, it has received more attention than normal. Jessica Barnaby explains why our initial estimates can sometimes get revised.
Read more on How the ONS estimates UK debt to GDP figures Since we introduced the country and regional public sector finances data in 2017, further opportunities have emerged to use alternative data sources to make these statistics more timely. Moreover, data sources and production techniques can help increase the granularity of geographical breakdowns. In this post we look at some improvements we’re working on.
Read more on Down your way: working towards more localised data on public sector spending