Pandemic forces government to take unprecedented measures to support economy
The government has been forced to borrow almost £130bn between April and June to combat the coronavirus pandemic, more than double the amount it did over the whole of last year.
Setting out the scale of the economic shock unleashed by the virus, the Office for National Statistics said public borrowing in the first quarter of the 2020-21 financial year jumped to £127.9bn, the highest quarterly sum since comparable records began in 1993.
Related: UK households suffer biggest financial hit since 1970s due to coronavirus
