By Jason Douglas and David Hodari

LONDON--U.K. government borrowing declined on the year in May as higher taxes offset a small rise in spending.

The Office for National Statistics said borrowing in May was 5 billion pounds ($6.59 billion) compared with GBP7 billion a year earlier.

Eliminating a persistent budget deficit has been a goal of successive U.K. governments since 2010.

The ONS said borrowing for the fiscal year to the end of March was the lowest in 11 years, at a revised GBP39.5 billion. The government ran a small surplus on day-to-day spending, which excludes investment.

Prime Minister Theresa May this week said the government intends to increase borrowing and raise taxes to help finance a spending boost for the state-run National Health Service.

Write to Jason Douglas at Jason.Douglas@wsj.com and David Hodari at David.Hodari@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 21, 2018 04:47 ET (08:47 GMT)

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