Government borrowing has reached its annual limit only seven months into the financial year, leaving Alistair Darling, the chancellor, little wiggle room ahead of an expected economic slowdown. Poor figures for October’s tax revenues and public expenditure pushed borrowing since April to its highest level for 13 years despite the strong performance of the economy in the spring and summer.

The government now requires the public finances to perform as strongly in the rest of the financial year as they did last year if it is to hit its 2007-08 targets set in the pre-Budget report only last month.