Image: Omar Bárcena [CC BY 2.0], via Flickr
Changes to the way student loans are accounted for in public finances have added £12.4 billion to the national deficit—some £1.8 billion more than was expected.
In December 2018, the Office for National Statistics said that the portion of student loans that is not expected to be repaid should be added to the national deficit, and confirmed in June this year that it would implement the new treatment this month.
“We have met the commitment, and student loans are now recorded on the new basis in the public sector finances statistics,” the ONS said in a public finance update published on 24 September.
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