Evidence has now revealed that Britain's debt is at its worst since the Second World War, as the black hole in the country's finances deepens.
According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, the countries total borrowing has increased to £799 billion, with Government borrowing in June alone surging to a record level.
Net borrowing for the public sector increased to the highest level since records began in 1974, soaring by £5.5 billion to £13 billion in June compared to over a year ago.
The Daily Mail stated that "every man, woman and child" in Britain has witnessed their national debt rise by £213 "in only a month".
With the worrying figures pushing national
debt up to record levels last month, the state of the nation's public finances was described as "dire," "alarming," and "parlous," by economists after the figures were nearly 50 per cent higher than that of figures from the same month in 2008.
Government debt set to increase
Research from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, (NIESR) also revealed that the cost of servicing Government debt will increase from this year's £25.6 billion to £50.7 billion in 2013/14.
The chancellor, Alistair Darling believes that the national debt will hit £175 billion this year.
However, according to economists, borrowing could worsen to a post-war record shooting past the Chancellors forecast.
With the rate of unemployment soaring, Government spending is expected to climb even further as it provides jobseekers with benefit payments.
Vicky Redwood of Capital Economics said: "There is surely a good chance that the rate of deterioration worsens, resulting in an even bigger total. We still expect a figure of around £200 billion or even higher."
Howard Archer, at IHS Global Insight, said: "Whether or not the Chancellor does achieve his target this year, it does not alter the fact that extended, further major fiscal tightening measures will have to be introduced to get the public finances back to a sustainable state over the long term."
Major cuts at the next level
As a result NIESR stated that the winner of the next general election may slash
public spending and increase taxes, after figures indicated that "the black hole in the Government's accounts is growing at the fastest rate in history," according to the Telegraph.
According to the leading think tank, the Centre for Economics & Business Research, the £80 billion spending cuts and £20 billion of tax increases to sort out UK finances could be "unavoidable."
However, NIESR also stated that despite the spending cuts, the level of borrowing will be £120 billion in four years.
Yet according to No 10, although Britain has been hit hard by the recession, "we will still have lower net debt than the U.S, Germany and the eurozone."
The spokesperson for the Prime Minister said: "Obviously our economy, like all economies, has been affected by the
recession.
We got hit particularly because of the large size of our financial sector and the contribution that makes to the finances. But we went into this global recession with lower levels of net debt than many other countries."
