Government borrowing was higher than forecast in the last financial year, according to official figures.

Borrowing - the difference between spending and tax income - reached £120.7bn in the year to March, the Office for National Statistics said.

While it is lower than the previous year, it was £6.6bn more than the government's forecaster predicted, the BBC reported.

The higher-than-expected figure could limit a further pre-election tax cut, analysts said.

The government's independent forecasting body, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), had predicted that borrowing over the year would be £114.1bn.

A general election has to be held before the end of January 2025, and there has been speculation that the government will seek to cut taxes again later this year before voters head to the polling stations.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt reduced National Insurance by 2p in the pound in the spring Budget following a 2p cut announced in last year's Autumn Statement. The OBR estimated that each cut will cost the government nearly £10bn.

The ONS also noted that these are the initial estimates of public sector finances for last financial year, and figures will be revised over the coming months.

Borrowing in March alone was £11.9bn, which was £4.7bn less than a year earlier but still higher than analysts had expected.

Total debt - which is the overall amount of money owed by the government that has built up over the years - was £2.7 trillion at the end of March.

That is the equivalent of 98.3% of the size of the UK's economy as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), remaining at levels last seen in the early 1960s, the ONS said.