Highest ever October state borrowing costs, official figures show
Public sector borrowing reached the second highest level for any October since records began, according to official figures, casting doubt on the prime minister’s pledge to cut debt and the chancellor’s capacity to cut taxes.
Public sector net borrowing was £14.9bn last month, £4.4bn more than the same point last year and the second highest since monthly records began in 1993, the Office for National Statistic (ONS) said.
Only once before, in the pandemic year of 2020, was a higher amount borrowed in October.
High borrowing costs, thanks to high interest rates and bond yields having neared a 15-year high, are part of the reason.
The interest payable was the highest on record for any October since such figures began being collated by the ONS.
Interest payments were £1.1bn more expensive than October last year, reaching £7.5bn. It is an even greater amount than the Office of Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecast of £4.9bn.
One of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s five promises is to reduce government debt, which arises when the state spends more money than it takes in from taxes.
Across the seven months to October 2023 debt was up £21.9bn compared with the same seven months in 2022, totalling £98.3bn.
But the sum was £16.9bn less than the £115.2bn forecast by the OBR in March.
The ONS data is the last set before the mini-budget speech to be delivered by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in the Commons on Wednesday.
He had signalled months ago that the prospects for a series of giveaways was not in his immediate plans, despite pressure from Tory MPs for sweeteners to bolster the party’s fortunes in the polls.
However, the tune from Downing Street has changed significantly over the past few days, with Mr Sunak saying on Monday it was time for the government to “begin the next phase” of its plan and “turn our attention to cutting tax”.
It is believed some personal taxes could be cut to help boost growth and help working families with the cost of living.
At the weekend Mr Hunt also pledged to “remove the barriers that stop businesses growing”.
The chancellor had told Sky News in October that OBR’s new economic forecasts, to be revealed alongside the autumn statement, would be considerably worse than at the time of the spring budget.
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Chancellor: ‘Tax burden is too high’
Efforts to cut benefit bills and get 1.1 million classed as economically inactive into employment were revealed on Thursday last week as part of the chancellor’s Back to Work Plan.
It was the first pre-announcement of the autumn statement.
The run-up to a major fiscal event is often littered with such things – and leaks.
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Labour’s plans for the economy
Mr Hunt is facing a clamour of demands for aid – not least from charities which warn that millions of families need additional support to get them through another tough winter for household budgets.
Inflation figures last week may have shown that the pace of price increases has more than halved this year, meeting the government’s target, but bills for energy remain £1,000 above pre-pandemic levels and other essentials such as food are still rising in double-digits.
Key announcements are due on Wednesday over the government’s commitment to the pensions triple lock and whether working age benefits will rise in line with September’s inflation figure.
Read more:
Autumn statement 2023: What time is it and what could be announced?
Business aid may come in the form of tax relief.
A coalition of hospitality businesses called on the chancellor last week to freeze business rates and extend reliefs.
They argued that a fresh tax burden would force up costs and spark a flood of closures.
In response to Tuesday’s figures, Mr Hunt said: “We met our pledge to halve inflation, but we must keep on supporting the Bank of England to drive inflation down to 2%. That means being responsible with the nation’s finances.
“At my autumn statement tomorrow, I will focus on how we boost business investment and get people back into work to deliver the growth our country needs.”
Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, marks their 50th birthday amid a year of rising institutional and geopolitical adoption of the world’s first cryptocurrency.
The identity of Nakamoto remains one of the biggest mysteries in crypto, with speculation ranging from cryptographers like Adam Back and Nick Szabo to broader theories involving government intelligence agencies.
While Nakamoto’s identity remains anonymous, the Bitcoin (BTC) creator is believed to have turned 50 on April 5 based on details shared in the past.
According to archived data from his P2P Foundation profile, Nakamoto once claimed to be a 37-year-old man living in Japan and listed his birthdate as April 5, 1975.
Source: Web.archive.org
Nakamoto’s anonymity has played a vital role in maintaining the decentralized nature of the Bitcoin network, which has no central authority or leadership.
The Bitcoin wallet associated with Nakamoto, which holds over 1 million BTC, has laid dormant for more than 16 years despite BTC rising from $0 to an all-time high above $109,000 in January.
Satoshi Nakamoto statue in Lugano, Switzerland. Source: Cointelegraph
Nakamoto’s 50th birthday comes nearly a month after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, marking the first major step toward integrating Bitcoin into the US financial system.
Related: Bitcoin at 16: From experiment to trillion-dollar asset
Nakamoto’s legacy: a “cornerstone of economic sovereignty”
“At 50, Nakamoto’s legacy is no longer just code; it’s a cornerstone of economic sovereignty,” according to Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain expert.
“Bitcoin’s reserve status signals trust in its scarcity and resilience,” Lian told Cointelegraph, adding:
“What’s fascinating is the timing. Fifty feels symbolic — half a century of life, mirrored by Bitcoin’s journey from a white paper to a trillion-dollar asset. Nakamoto’s vision of trustless, peer-to-peer money has outgrown its cypherpunk roots, entering the halls of power.”
However, lingering questions about Nakamoto remain unanswered, including whether they still hold the keys to their wallet, which is “a fortune now tied to US policy,” Lian said.
Related: Bitcoin’s next catalyst: End of $36T US debt ceiling suspension
Is Satoshi Nakamoto wealthier than Bill Gates?
In February, Arkham Intelligence published findings that attribute 1.096 million BTC — then valued at more than $108 billion — to Nakamoto. That would place him above Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on the global wealth rankings, according to data shared by Coinbase director Conor Grogan.
Satoshi’s new addresses. Source: Conor Grogan
If accurate, this would make Nakamoto the world’s 16th richest person.
Despite the growing interest in Nakamoto’s identity and holdings, his early decision to remain anonymous and inactive has helped preserve Bitcoin’s decentralized ethos — a principle that continues to define the cryptocurrency to this day.
Magazine: 10 crypto theories that missed as badly as ‘Peter Todd is Satoshi’
The United States stock market lost more in value over the April 4 trading day than the entire cryptocurrency market is worth, as fears over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to ramp up.
On April 4, the US stock market lost $3.25 trillion — around $570 billion more than the entire crypto market’s $2.68 trillion valuation at the time of publication.
Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market”
Among the Magnificent-7 stocks, Tesla (TSLA) led the losses on the day with a 10.42% drop, followed by Nvidia (NVDA) down 7.36% and Apple (AAPL) falling 7.29%, according to TradingView data.
The significant decline across the board signals that the Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market” after falling 6% across the trading day, trading resource account The Kobeissi Letter said in an April 4 X post. This is the largest daily decline since March 16, 2020.
“US stocks have now erased a massive -$11 TRILLION since February 19 with recession odds ABOVE 60%,” it added. The Kobessi Letter said Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement was “historic” and if the tariffs continue, a recession will be “impossible to avoid.”
Source: Anthony Scaramucci
On April 2, Trump signed an executive order establishing reciprocal tariffs on trading partners and a 10% baseline tariff on all imports from all countries.
Trump said the reciprocal tariffs will be roughly half the rate US trading partners impose on American goods.
Related: Bitcoin bulls defend $80K support as ‘World War 3 of trade wars’ crushes US stocks
Meanwhile, the crypto industry has pointed out that while the stock market continues to decline, Bitcoin (BTC) remains stronger than most expected.
Crypto trader Plan Markus pointed out in an April 4 X post that while the entire stock market “is tanking,” Bitcoin is holding.
Source: Jeff Dorman
Even some crypto skeptics have pointed out the contrast between Bitcoin’s performance and the US stock market during the recent period of macro uncertainty.
Stock market commentator Dividend Hero told his 203,200 X followers that he has “hated on Bitcoin in the past, but seeing it not tank while the stock market does is very interesting to me.”
Meanwhile, technical trader Urkel said Bitcoin “doesn’t appear to care one bit about tariff wars and markets tanking.” Bitcoin is trading at $83,749 at the time of publication, down 0.16% over the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap data.
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