Rachel Reeves is having to borrow more and more money to keep Britain’s show on the road. Figures on the public finances, published this morning by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), show that in the financial year to February we borrowed over £132 billion. That is nearly £15 billion more than at the same point in the last financial year and is the fourth-highest borrowing period since records began in 1993. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had expected borrowing to total £128 billion for the whole financial year and, by this point, that forecast is already more than £20 billion short.

The OBR’s budgetary boffins will update that forecast today when they hand the Chancellor their final economic outlook ahead of the Spring Statement next week. But this morning’s figures show the scale of the challenge Reeves faces if she is to recover any of the £10 billion fiscal headroom that she has lost since the Autumn budget. As Katy Balls and I reported for the magazine’s cover story this week, tax rises have been ruled out – so billions in spending cuts are the only real option left to the Chancellor.

In February alone, the state had to borrow nearly £11 billion – again the fourth highest borrowing figure since records began more than 30 years ago. However, the resulting February deficit, conversely, was £3.3 billion, which is the lowest deficit for this time of year since 2022.

In a welcome effort to keep government spending – and hence borrowing – down, Reeves has reportedly demanded that departments provide her with real-time spending updates rather than the monthly and quarterly statistical spending reports she has to rely on now. ‘The public rightly look at government irrespective of party and ask, “Why am I paying all of this tax and not seeing basic public services work?”’’ said chief secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones. It’s another sign of the spirit of Dominic Cummings lingering around Whitehall, as live tracking of spending and government waste had been an idea during his stint in No. 10.

Whether such measures will be enough to bring borrowing under control – or merely paper over the cracks – remains to be seen. But the numbers make one thing clear: the Chancellor is running out of room to manoeuvre.