New data released by the ONS on Friday shows that government borrowing soared to hit £62 billion in April 2020.
This was the highest monthly figure on record, coming after the government announced a number of thorough and costly measures to ease the impact of the crisis.
These new figures mean that the deficit for just last month was larger than the forecast figure for the entire year when Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced his budget.
Furthermore, the OBR has released a projection about borrowing for the entire calendar year, which predicts that the figure could reach £289 billion. This would be more than a fivefold increase on the estimate given in Mr Sunak's budget.
In response to publication of the figures, Mr Sunak defended the government's decision, saying that its "top priority" was to "support people, jobs and businesses through this crisis and ensure our economic recovery is as strong and as swift as possible".
He once more described the steps the government had taken as "unprecedented", calling on the furlough scheme, grants, loans and tax cuts as just a few examples.
Public sector debt is now close to £1.9 trillion, which is £118 billion higher than it was just twelve months ago.
BBC global trade correspondent Dharshini Daivd reported that economists have said that "taxes will have to rise" or "spending [will have to be] cut", and stated that "the emergency raft will have a price tag which we can't escape".
