When the public borrowing forecast is £178 billion, an undershoot of a few billion is no reason to pop the champagne corks, but think of the alternative. Public sector net borrowing of £12.4 billion in February was below expectations and the January figure waas revised down to virtually zero. Even public sector net debt, at 60.3% of GDP, is below its recent peak. More here.

Also today, the CBI reported an improvement in export orders, though the Bank of England said bank lending remained constrained, particularly to business. More here.