The Government has modestly undershot its expectations for public borrowing in the last financial year by nearly £5 billion, official figures reveal.
Public sector net borrowing, excluding financial interventions such as bank bailouts, was £18.6 billion in March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, bringing the total for the financial year 2010/11 to £141.1 billion.
The total for the fiscal year was less than the £146 billion forecast by the tax and spending watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, which is used by the Treasury to set its fiscal policy.
The March borrowing figure was in line with City expectations.
Chancellor George Osborne is rolling out deficit-busting austerity measures, which include £81 billion of spending cuts and January's VAT hike from 17.5% to 20%.
Economists have warned that the impact of the fiscal squeeze will start to kick in this month so the rate at which public finances improve over the coming months will be critical.
The OBR forecast was revised down from £148.5 billion when the Chancellor delivered his annual Budget last month.
Earlier in the year, economists had been earmarking a potential £10 billion windfall for Mr Osborne but he was dealt a pre-Budget blow when borrowing came in at double forecasts in February.
However, the total borrowing for the year to date is £15.4 billion lower than the previous financial year, when net borrowing excluding financial interventions was £156.5 billion.
A spokesman for the Treasury said this week's credit rating downgrade to the US Government's debt outlook by agency Standard & Poor's showed concerns persist over budget deficits. The Government needs to stick to its plan "to pay off the nation's credit card over the rest of this Parliament", the spokesman added.
