Investing.com - The U.K.’s public sector balance posted a deficit in July, official data showed on Thursday. It was the first deficit since January.
In a report, the U.K. National Statistics Office said that public sector net borrowing, or the difference in value between public spending and income, posted a deficit of £1.1 billion in July.
Analysts had expected the U.K. public sector net borrowing to post a deficit of £2.0 billion last month.
Public sector net borrowing posted a surplus of £9.79 billion in June, whose figure was revised from a previously reported surplus of £9.51 billion.
Public sector net borrowing excluding temporary effects of financial interventions was in deficit of £0.2 billion, compared to expectations for £1.5 billion deficit.
Following the release of the data, the pound added to losses against the U.S. dollar, with GBP/USD shedding 0.14% to trade at 1.6572, compared to 1.6587 before the data.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were higher. London’s FTSE 100 tacked on 0.25%, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.7%, France’s CAC 40 inched up 0.6%, while Germany's DAX advanced 0.4%.