The 9 billion pound (S$19.4 billion) shortfall reported by the Office for National Statistics compares with 1.1 billion pounds in the same month last year.

The running deficit for the first 11 months of the year has soared to a record 75.2 billion pounds, compared with 23 billion pounds a year earlier.

The worsening state of the public finances means that Treasury chief Alistair Darling, who presents his annual budget next month, is almost certain to exceed his net borrowing forecasts of 78 billion pounds for the current financial year.

Economists predict the figure could reach 90 billion pounds or higher and take much longer for the government to correct.

'The public finances are continuing to deteriorate at an alarming rate,' said Peter Spencer, chief economic adviser to the Ernst & Young ITEM Club. 'And as the economy continues to shrink, the outlook for public finances is bleak.' The blow-out in February was driven by a fall of almost 10 per cent in government tax receipts over the month compared to a year earlier.

The government's value added tax, or VAT, receipts were down 31 per cent on the previous year, due both to the slowing economy and the government's temporary cut in the tax last year. The government trimmed VAT, essentially a sales tax on goods and services, from 17.5 per cent to 15 per cent for a year from December. -- AP