Gordon Brown, MP Chancellor of the Exchequer, faces good start for his forecast with the bullish figures in public finance.

In April, public net borrowing amounted to £1.3 billion, down from £2.8 billion in the same month of 2004 and definitely lower than consensus forecasts of £2.2 billion. The Office for National Statistics ups the current budget deficit for 2004-05 by £800 million from £16.6 billion to £17.4 billion.

The last year’s budget deficit forecast of Mr. Brown missed the real deficits by £1.3 billion as he predicted it to total £16.1 billion.

The receipts rose by 9% to £37 billion from April 2004, expenditure stayed at £35.8 billion – the slight difference in figures over the same period of 2004.