(RTTNews) - The British government net borrowing reached a record high for the month of September, official data showed Tuesday.

The Office for National Statistics said the public sector net borrowing surged GBP 6.1 billion from the previous year to GBP 14.8 billion in September. This was the biggest level for September, but smaller than the expected level of GBP 15.5 billion.

The public sector net borrowing reached GBP 77.3 billion, on a year-to-date basis for the financial year started April. This was the largest half-year deficit since records began in 1946. The budget forecast for financial year 2009/10 is a net borrowing of GBP 175 billion.

The public sector net cash requirement rose to GBP 19.4 billion, also the highest for the month of September. The figure increased GBP 6.1 billion from the same period of last year. Economists had expected the PSNCR to rise to GBP 19 billion. The public sector net cash requirement rose to GBP 76.2 billion during April to September.

The Government paid out GBP 5.9 billion in interest in September, which was the highest monthly payment on record. The London-based ONS showed that the public sector current budget was in GBP 11.3 billion deficit. This was larger than the GBP 7.6 billion shortfall seen in September 2008.

The public sector current budget showed a deficit of GBP 61.5 billion during April to September, bigger than the GBP 24.3 billion shortfall in the previous year.

The public sector net debt at the end of September stood at GBP 824.8 billion, equivalent to 59% of GDP. Meanwhile, public sector net debt, excluding financial sector interventions totaled GBP 682.8 billion, equivalent to 48.9% of GDP.

Yesterday, the Confederation of British Industry said the UK government must cut GBP 120 billion from its current spending plans to boost investor confidence and get the UK economy on the path to recovery. The CBI urged the Chancellor Alistair Darling to ensure that his Pre-Budget report delivers a credible plan for balancing the public finances by 2015-16, two years earlier than planned. Darling is due to unveil the Treasury’s autumn budget report in the coming weeks.

Also on Monday, Brooks Newmark, a Conservative lawmaker said in a paper titled The Hidden Debt Bombshell, published by the Centre for Policy Studies, that government debt is actually GBP 2.2 trillion, more than double of the GBP 805 billion reported by the ONS.

Commenting on the ONS report, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said, “Those using these figures to call for immediate deep spending cuts and public sector pay freezes would push the UK economy into a double quick double dip recession just when the rest of the world is recovering.”

Unless there is a clear improvement in the coming few months, there is a danger that net borrowing in the current financial year will total even more than the GBP 175 billion forecast in the last Budget, said David Kern, Chief Economist at the British Chambers of Commerce. UK must develop a credible medium-term plan to reduce the deficit, to ensure that international credit rating is not threatened.

While affirming U.K.’s long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings at ‘AAA’, the Fitch Ratings in August warned that the nation faces one of the most serious post-crisis fiscal adjustment challenges among ‘AAA’ governments. General government gross debt was estimated to reach 80% of GDP by the end of 2010.

In May, the Standard & Poor’s revised the outlook on the United Kingdom to negative from stable. The agency estimated general government debt burden to rise to around 100% of GDP by 2013.

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