The Government’s tax haul is on the rise as the economy grows - so far this financial year current tax receipts have come in at £164.2bn, up 4.7pc on the £156.8bn raised last year.

However, total current spending has risen by 5.6pc to £176.7bn, so the Government has had to borrow more to plug that widening gap.

Higher interest payments on the national debt were a particularly large cost.

Financing the debt cost £4.9bn in June alone, a rise of more than £1bn from £3.7bn in the same month of 2016.

Higher inflation is driving this as bond payments linked to the price index rise as inflation takes off.

“While nominal gilt yields remain relatively low, rising inflation means that the Exchequer is facing higher costs from its index-linked issues. This is set to be an ongoing factor in the public finances this year,” said economist Philip Shaw at Investec.