UK posts bigger budget deficit in February than expected

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain posted a larger budget deficit than expected in February, swelled by cost-of-living payments and the effect of past inflation on the public finances, official data showed on Thursday.

Public sector net borrowing, excluding state-owned banks, was 8.401 billion pounds last month, down from 11.843 billion pounds ($15.16 billion) a year ago.

Still, the reading was higher than any economist expected in a Reuters poll that had pointed to a deficit of around 5.95 billion pounds.

With only one month of the 2023/24 financial year left, the cumulative budget deficit for the year so far stood at 106.8 billion pounds - down 4.1% compared with first 11 months of the 2022/23 financial year.

Earlier this month, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast a budget deficit for 2023/24 of 114.1 billion pounds.

($1 = 0.7846 pounds)

(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar; Editing by William Schomberg and Elizabeth Piper)