The best month for the public finances in four years offered some breathing space for Chancellor George Osborne today a week after ratings agency Moody's threatened to strip the UK of its prized AAA rating.
January's figures showed a surplus of £7.8 billion, well above the £5.2 billion recorded a year ago, thanks to higher receipts and a drop in local government borrowing.
Tax receipts hit £60.9 billion, the highest since Office for National Statistics records began in 1998.
Although January is usually a strong month for the Treasury's coffers due to self-assessment returns and corporation tax receipts, with 10 months of the financial year gone borrowing is £15.7 billion down on last year at £93.5 billion. Total debt also dropped back temporarily below the £1 trillion mark.
The performance paves the way for the Chancellor to deliver some better news in the Budget as borrowing falls below the Office for Budget Responsibility's £127 billion forecast for the current year, perhaps by £10 billion.
Chris Williamson, chief economist at financial information firm Markit, said: "That undershoot may provide George Osborne with some leeway to seek ways to stimulate economic growth in the Budget."
The cheer comes after Moody's said there was a one in three chance of a downgrade as it blamed the UK's high debt, lower growth prospects and the potential impact of the eurozone crisis.
