FILE PHOTO - The Canary Wharf financial district is seen in east London November 12, 2014. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett

LONDON (Reuters) - British public borrowing is likely to undershoot forecasts made in November by a big margin, potentially pointing to lower borrowing in future years, the country’s budget watchdog said on Wednesday.

“Overall, it now looks clear that borrowing in 2017/18 will undershoot our November forecast by a significant margin,” the OBR said in a statement after January data showed borrowing for the year to date was 16 percent lower than in 2016/17.

However, figures for the financial year ending in March are unlikely to show such a sharp year-on-year decline, the OBR added.

The OBR forecast in November that borrowing would rise slightly to 49.9 billion pounds in 2017/18 from 45.7 billion pounds a year before.

A stronger budget outturn for 2017/18 might prompt downward revisions to borrowing for future years, the OBR said, adding it would update its forecasts when finance minister Philip Hammond publishes a budget update on March 13.