Government borrowing sw-elled by £13 billion last month to take overall debt to its highest proportion of UK output since records began.

Public sector net borrowing in June saw the nation’s net debt soar to £798.8 billion, equivalent to a record 56.6 per cent of gross domestic product, according to the Office for National Statistics.

June’s borrowing was £5.5 billion higher than the £7.5 billion seen a year ago, which also marked a record for the month.

The ONS data revealed the impact of recession on tax receipts, with corporation tax takings plunging by 14.1 per cent, VAT by 15.9 per cent and income tax by 3.9 per cent.

But spending rose again as the Government sought to tackle the economic woes, with social benefit outlays up 9.7 per cent to £13.3 billion as it pumped more cash into unemployment benefit payouts.

Total Government outlay over June hit £49 billion, up from £44.2 billion a year earlier, while total receipts fell 5.7 per cent to £35.5 billion.

Today’s figures paint a stark picture of UK public finances and come amid mounting concern over borrowing levels.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King recently highlighted concerns, branding the Government’s borrowing levels “extraordinary”. Chancellor Alistair Darling predicts net borrowing over the year as a whole will hit £175 billion.

But economists fear it could reach as high as £190 billion this year as the Government seeks to spend its way out of recession.

However, there was some good news as fashion chain Next and supermarket Morrisons overcame the economic gloom. The good news in unscheduled updates comes despite the sharpest economic decline in more than 50 years during the first three months of 2009. Both have raised profit forecasts for the year.

Next has been helped by better weather than the same time last year, leading to far shallower sales falls than forecast.

Morrisons said more shoppers were attracted by its “keen positioning” on price, fresh produce, promotions and service standards in a competitive market.

By David Burrows