The government received more money than it spent in January leaving it with its highest monthly surplus in four years.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the surplus followed a fall in local government borrowing and a rise in tax receipts.

It said the public sector made a net repayment - excluding financial interventions - of £7.75bn, up from £5.2bn a year ago.

January's finances are often in surplus because of a spike in tax receipts.

The government has borrowed £93.5bn in the tax year to date, down from £109.14bn in 2010/11, which suggests it may meet or even beat its target of borrowing no more than £127bn this year, compared with £136bn last year.

The UK's total public sector net debt, excluding financial sector interventions, fell back to £988.7bn, having breached £1tn in December.

The level of government borrowing is one of the data series looked at by ratings agencies, which judge the likelihood of a borrower defaulting, something that can affect the cost of borrowing.

Last week, the ratings agency Moody's warned that Britain could lose its top, triple-A credit rating in the next 18 months.

Despite the improved borrowing figures, the UK economy remains on shaky ground.

Official data on Friday is expected to confirm the economy shrank by 0.2% in the final three months of 2011, and the Bank of England last week said it expected the economy to "zigzag" in and out of growth this year.

Source;bbc