Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of public sector net debt at the end of the 2021-22 financial year.

The Treasury does not publish forecasts of the economy or the public finances; the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is the UK’s official forecaster. In their March 2021 forecast, the OBR projected that Public Sector Net Debt (PSND) for 2021-22 will be £2.5 trillion or 107.4% of GDP. In addition, underlying debt (PSND excluding the Bank of England) is forecast to be £2.2 trillion or 93.8% of GDP in 2021-22.

This reflects that the policy support announced by the government in response to the pandemic has led to a significant but necessary increase in borrowing and debt. At the Budget in March, the government set out steps to strengthen the public finances, with the OBR forecast showing the public finances on a more sustainable footing with debt stable over the medium-term.