Money, in brief

Britain's government borrowed 18.3bn pounds in August, almost a fifth more than in August 2025, the Office for National Statistics said. [1]

Borrowing is the gap between the tax the UK government collects and what it spends. [1] The gap was 2.9bn pounds wider than a year earlier. [2]

Interest on the UK government's debt reached 8.8bn pounds in the month, the highest for any August since records began in 1997. [1]

Prices rose at their fastest rate in five months in August, pushed up by petrol and diesel. [1] Spending on public services and benefits grew faster than tax receipts as a result. [1]

About a quarter of the UK's government debt is linked to inflation. [1] Martin Beck, chief economist at WPI Strategy, said the interest on it is likely to rise in the coming months. [1]

The Institute for Fiscal Studies, a research group, called debt interest a worryingly large share of government spending. [1]

John Healey, the chancellor in charge of tax and spending, gives his first Budget on 28 October. [1][3]

Labour's 2024 manifesto ruled out raising income tax, VAT or national insurance. [3] Capital Economics, a research firm, said the figures make it likelier that plans by Andy Burnham, Britain's prime minister, are cut back or delayed. [1]

The last Budget, in November 2025, already froze the income tax and national insurance thresholds until April 2031. [5]

From 6 April 2027, people under 65 can put only 12,000 pounds a year into a cash ISA, a tax-free savings account, down from 20,000 pounds. [6] Healey could keep that cut, reverse it, or cap how much anyone may hold in ISAs over a lifetime. [4]

More than 5,000 people hold over a million pounds in ISAs, according to the UK tax authority. [4] Tax on savings interest outside an ISA rises by two points, to 22% and 42%, from the 2027-28 tax year. [7]

Tom Selby of AJ Bell, an investment firm, said the chancellor needs to settle the future of the triple lock, the state pension promise that costs 10bn pounds a year. [3]

Why it matters. The next test is the 28 October Budget: whether Healey raises a tax the manifesto did not rule out, such as tax on savings or property, or changes the cash ISA cut. [3][4]

The National Payments Corporation of India, which runs UPI, said this month that shops will pay a 0.4% fee on some UPI payments above 2,000 rupees, about 21 dollars, from 15 October. [8] UPI, launched in 2016, lets people pay by phone, and more than 550 million use it. [9] Payments between people stay free, and so do shop payments up to 2,000 rupees. [8] India's government says about 96% of shop payments are unaffected. [8] Shops may not pass the fee on to customers, and it is capped at 300 rupees a payment. [8]

Why it matters. Until now India's government, banks and payment firms paid to run UPI, and this moves part of that cost onto shopkeepers. [8] Some warn that shops may ask for cash on larger sales instead. [8]

Europe's benchmark gas price passed 75 euros a megawatt-hour this month, its highest since late 2022, and UK gas passed 185p a therm. [14] The Strait of Hormuz, which carries about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied gas, has been effectively closed for about six months. [14] Capital Economics, a research firm, does not expect it to start reopening before early 2027. [14] Centrica's boss says the UK has almost no gas in storage for winter. [14]

Why it matters. Wholesale gas prices feed into Ofgem's cap on household energy bills, which rises 4% in October to 1,723 pounds a year for a typical home. [14] Cornwall Insight, an energy consultancy, said the spike puts pressure on its forecast of a further 9% rise in January. [14]

The average 30-year fixed US mortgage rate fell to 7.04% on 23 September, 0.12 points lower than the day before, according to rates from Zillow. [10] It was 7.05% on 18 September. [11] Mortgage rates follow the yield on the US government's ten-year bonds, which fell as hopes grew that the Strait of Hormuz could reopen and oil prices dropped. [10][11] The US central bank raised its main rate by a quarter point at its September meeting and signalled more rises may follow. [10]

Why it matters. A home loan in the US is priced off what investors demand to lend to the US government for ten years, so a war that pushes up oil moves the cost of a house. [11] Buyers taking a new fixed loan now carry that rate for as long as 30 years. [10]

US consumers have spent about 107bn dollars more on petrol and diesel than they would have without the wars in Iran and Ukraine, according to estimates by Brown University's Climate Solutions Lab. [12] That averages more than 500 million dollars a day since the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February. [12] The estimate counts the effect of both conflicts on fuel supply together. [12] Oil prices returning above 100 dollars a barrel mean the total will keep growing. [12]

Why it matters. Fuel is a cost almost every household pays weekly, so the war reaches people who never follow news from the Gulf. [12] Dearer petrol and diesel also pushed up prices in Britain in August. [1]

The US form students fill in to apply for federal college aid, the FAFSA, is being tested for the 2027-28 school year and should open to everyone by 1 October. [13] Three years ago a new version broke down and delayed aid for many families. [13] Officials and testers, including students at KIPP DC, a group of schools in Washington, say the new form is quicker and gives an aid estimate sooner. [13] It arrives as new limits on federal loans take effect. [13]

Why it matters. Since 1 July 2026, new graduate students can no longer take out Grad PLUS loans, and face a 100,000-dollar total limit on federal loans, or 200,000 dollars on some professional courses. [15] So the aid estimate the form gives now matters more to how much a family must find elsewhere. [13]