UK seeks to borrow £225bn to fund huge surge in public spending

Borrowing for just four months nears annual peak figure for 2009-10 financial crisis as coronavirus ravages economy

The government plans to borrow 225bn from bond market investors in just four months to fund the huge increase in public spending during the coronavirus pandemic.

In an early indicator of the soaring financial costs of the crisis, the Treasury said its debt management office - which sells bonds to finance the government's spending requirements - would offer investors 180bn worth of gilts to buy between May and July, on top of 45bn already planned for April.