UK government debt - will it exceed £700bn by the end of 2008?

Welcome to the obscure world of UK government accounting. At September 2008 Public sector net debt was £645.3 billion, equivalent to 43.4 per cent of GDP. These figures include Northern Rock as it is regarded as a public company, but exclude National Rail debt, the pension deficit and PPI debts. The figure a year earlier (and before the Northern Rock bail-out was £514.5 billion. Taxation has been falling and expenditure increasing throughout the year, which suggests that this year's increase could be even larger, the Bradford and Bingley has also been bailed out, which may affect the published figure. The general bank bail-out plan is unlikely to have an impact however, as it is not included in preferred measures of debt.

Will the first published UK debt figure for the end of 2008 be in excess of £700bn? The source for information is National Statistics Online - the website of the ONS. The current statistic is from http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=206