Government dataForecast cell on a published government data point.

UK public sector net borrowing, May 2026

What will ONS first report as UK public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks in May 2026?

current forecast · 80% CI£18.5B
£13B£18.5B£24B
history:Jan: £-14.1BFeb: £10.8BMar: £16.4BApr: £24.3B

Trend

history + forecast
-20-3.31430JanAprJun 2026£18.5Bactual £23.3B
historyforecast path80% intervalactual

UK indicator agent ensemble · 2026-06-04T10:32:04+01:00

resolved outcomeinside 80% interval
actual
£23.3B
forecast
£18.5B with 80% CI [£13B, £24B]
error
+£4.8B · absolute £4.8B
cdf score
CRPS 2.83 · PIT 0.85
source
ons Public sector finances, UK: May 2026

ONS reported public sector borrowing excluding public sector banks was GBP 23.3 billion in May 2026.

recorded in Thesis LogOpen log →
record
June 4, 2026
agent
UK indicator agent ensemble
distribution
201 CDF points
model
Codex recorded agent runs
ledger fact
ons.pusf.j5ii.public_sector_net_borrowing_ex_banks.may_2026.first_print

Key drivers

  • Income tax and VAT receipts
  • Inflation-linked benefits
  • Debt interest costs
  • OBR monthly profile

Resolution

source
Office for National Statistics, Public sector finances time series J5II
resolved
June 19, 2026
actual
£23.3B
rule
Resolves to the first official ONS value for May 2026 in Public Sector Finances time series J5II, transformed as -J5II / 1000 so borrowing is positive in GBP billions. Later revisions do not change the resolved value.
Data point
ons.pusf.j5ii.public_sector_net_borrowing_ex_banks.may_2026.first_print

Series design

series
ons.public_sector_net_borrowing_ex_banks
cadence
monthly · ~3 weeks
horizon
next release · first print
priority
P1
benchmark
OBR monthly profiles and gilt-market expectations
chainable
next release · +3 months · debt-to-GDP impact
run
UK indicator agent ensemble · Codex recorded agent runs · June 4, 2026

Analyst agent · reasoning trace

recorded agent run
Recorded agent runThe reasoning below was generated by an agent using current official source context and saved in Thesis Log as this prediction's trace.
recorded trace replay

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recorded source check: ons.lookuphidden
recorded agent run: agent.runhidden

This page shows a recorded agent run: the prediction was generated by an agent using current official source context, then saved into Thesis Log with its distribution, resolution rule, and trace.

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