UK budget deficit to rise to £300bn this year, OBR says

Bill rises by 20bn in a fortnight as tax revenue dwindles and state spending soars to head off economic meltdown

The mounting cost of government schemes to help Britain through its worst recession in more than three centuries has risen by 20bn in the past two weeks and will result in a budget deficit of nearly 300bn in the current financial year, a report has forecast.

Fresh figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility, the independent body responsible for forecasting the public finances, showed that measures such as the Treasury's furlough scheme will total 123bn, up from 103bn in late April.