Britain cuts borrowing forecasts

Britain anticipates wiping out its annual budget deficit by the end of the decade after cutting its state borrowing forecasts in finance minister George Osborne's annual budget statement on Wednesday. Osborne said that his Conservative-Liberal Democrat government will have borrowed £108 billion ($179 billion, 129 billion euros) in the current 2013/2014 financial year that runs from April until March. The latest forecast, issued by the Office for Budget Responsibility, was less than previous guidance of a £111-billion borrowing target, which is a measure of the public deficit. State borrowing was then expected to drop to £95 billion in 2014/2015, followed by £75 billion, £44 billion and £17 billion in subsequent financial years, with a surplus of almost £5 billion expected in 2018/2019. As a result of the upgraded borrowing predictions, Britain will borrow a total of £24 billion less than previously expected over the forecast period, Osborne said.