Public borrowing was less than expected for October.
According to the Office of National Statistics, UK borrowing last month was £18.8bn – £200m less than a year ago.
Economists polled by Reuters estimated borrowing to be £13.8bn.
UK government debt is the highest since the early 1960s.
“Public borrowing is falling much less quickly than earlier this year, reflecting the slowing of the economic recovery and the pick-up in inflation, which determines interest payments on index-linked gilts,” said Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.