Britain's current account gap hit a record high of £20 billion in the third quarter, equivalent to 5.7 per cent of GDP, official data showed today.
The Office for National Statistics also reported that quarterly GDP growth in the third quarter of 2007 was unrevised at 0.7 per cent, but the annual rate was marked a tenth of a point higher to 3.3 per cent because of changes to 2006 data.
Public sector net borrowing hit a record high of £11.208 billion in November as government expenditure outstripped receipts.
The cash measure stood at £8.937 billion, around £1.5 billion higher than a year earlier.
The huge rise in the third-quarter current account deficit is likely to put further pressure on sterling and is a result of a big rise in the deficit on income as well as trade in goods.
The GDP breakdown revealed consumer expenditure rose by 1.1 per cent in the third quarter, the fastest rate since the second quarter of 2006. The saving ratio fell to 3.4 per cent from 4.0 per cent.