Borrowing overshoot will test Rachel Reeves’s resolve on tax rises

Reeves during a visit to Babcock at Rosyth Dockyard in Scotland to talk about growing the defence sector. Photograph: Mike Boyd/PA

February’s public finances data, published on Friday, is only likely to make Rachel Reeves more convinced she needs to take action at the spring statement next Wednesday.

Despite scepticism from economists and some colleagues, including in the cabinet, the chancellor is determined to make spending cuts, including the £5bn reduction in welfare spending already announced, to restore headroom against her self-imposed fiscal rules.