Britain had the highest August budget deficit for three years as the tax take from individuals and companies dropped.
Spending exceeded revenue by 12.1 billion pounds ($18.7 billion) compared with a deficit of 10.7 billion pounds a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said in London on Tuesday. Economists in a Bloomberg survey had forecast a 9.2 billion-pound shortfall. Government income fell 0.6 percent and spending climbed 1.6 percent.
