The amount of money owed by the Government has smashed through the £2 trillion mark for the first time.
The “breathtaking” £2,000,000,000,000 landmark was passed last month when the Treasury borrowed a further £26.7 billion to support the economy with emergency coronavirus measures such as the jobs furlough scheme.
By the end of July public debt stood at £2.004 trillion, or just over £30,000 for every man, woman and child in the UK.
It has taken just 10 years for the total to double — it passed £1 trillion in April 2010.
In another painful milestone the mountain of Government debt is now larger than the entire annual output of the UK for the first time since 1961, when it was coming down in the wake of the Second World War.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the figures were “a stark reminder” that “difficult decisions” — almost certain to include big tax rises — will have to be taken to put the public finances back on an even keel.
Karim Yousfi of Audacity Capital said: “No one will be surprised to hear this but the sheer scale of the debts being racked up is nevertheless breathtaking.”
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the Government had been effectively put on a war footing by the threat posed by the virus.
