LRB article: how the government contrived to lose £2billion on student loan sales
The Office for National Statistics has finalised its work on the classification of student loans in the national accounts.
On its new interpretation, the two loan sales made losses of £1.2billion and £1.5billion. These are classed now as “capital transfers” and have been added to the deficit in a series of retrospective revisions.
The difference between the national accounts figure and the £2billion departmental loss recorded by the DfE relate to the different accounting conventions in play.
I’ll write more later.
The latest issue of London Review of Books contains my essay on how the two sales of student loans have managed to lose £2billion.
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