Britain recorded a borrowing surplus for January, as expected owing to the payment of tax receipts, but the level was down on the figure a year earlier, official data says.
Public sector net borrowing showed a surplus of STG4.7 billion ($A8.7 billion) last month, the Official for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.
That compared with a surplus of STG9.8 billion in the same month of 2013, the ONS added.
Market expectations had been for a surplus of STG7.5 billion in January 2014, according to analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.
Last year's January surplus was skewed by STG3.8 billion of interest earned from the Bank of England's quantitative easing (QE) stimulus program.
"January normally records a decent surplus due to it being the deadline for income tax payments," said ING Bank analyst James Knightley.
"However the surplus was only just over half of what was expected... This still means that the official predictions for the annual deficit still look achievable, but nothing better."
The Office for Budget Responsibility has forecast that Britain's borrowing deficit for the current 2013/2014 financial year, which runs from April to March, will drop to STG111 billion from STG115 billion from 2012/13.
