P121 CEEFAX 121  Tue 18 Sip  23:41/31
    
    
    
                AUGUST PSBR WAS £1.5BN  
                                        
 The miners' strike continues to distort
 the Government's borrowing needs.      
                                        
 Last month's public sector borrowing   
 requirement (PSBR) -the gap between the
 Government's income and expenditure -  
 came to £1.53bn.                       
                                        
 This takes the total for the first five
 months of the current financial year to
 £6.6bn, against just £5.6bn a year ago.
                                        
 * The August PSBR benefited to the t4ne
 of £300m from the Jaguar sale. But the 
 miners' strike is cutting public sector
 income by around £30m a week.          
                                        
            CITZNEWS Index 120