Public finance figures suggest UK is on the mend A fall in central government spending helped UK public finances to show a modest improvement in August, according to official data that was greeted as evidence that the economic recovery was starting to make an impact. The Office for National Statistics published figures showing a fall in net borrowings in August to £13.2bn from £14.4bn a year earlier. Central government spending reached £51.3bn, which was 2.2 per cent lower than August 2012. The Treasury said: "Borrowing is down this month, and revisions show that borrowing this year and last year was lower than previously thought. The economy is turning a corner, but there is a long way to go and the government is sticking to the economic plan that has already cut the deficit by a third and enabled the private sector to create over 1.4m new jobs. Capital Economics, a consultancy, said: "Following a run of disappointing monthly public sector borrowing numbers, August's public finances data suggest that the economic recovery could be finally starting to make its presence felt in the fiscal numbers." But it said it was less pleasing that receipts only rose 1.4 per cent on an annual basis, down from 2.4 per cent in July. There was no impact on the public finances from the transfer of cash from the Bank of England's asset purchase facility, for the first time this fiscal year. Central government receipts in August reached £41.2bn, which was 1.4 per cent higher than in August 2012, when they totalled £40.6bn. For the period April 2013 to August 2013, central government receipts were £236.5bn, which was £18.4bn higher than the same period the previous year. The latest figures follow a disappointing set of figures last month that showed Treasury coffers were drained for the first July in three years. The ONS also published revised estimates showing that borrowing fell from £139.6bn in 2010-11 to £118.5bn in 2011-12 and to £115.7bn in 2012-13, excluding the impacts of Royal Mail and the asset purchase facility.