The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has said new figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) confirm March’s strong retail sales growth was Easter-driven.

BRC director general Stephen Robertson said the figures show the strong retail sales growth seen in March was mainly caused by the distorting effect of Easter. The seasonally adjusted figures actually show growth slowed compared with February.

Robertson said: “There was a big boost to food sales caused by Easter falling a week earlier than last year, with the first half of the Bank Holiday weekend falling into this March’s reporting period. Last year’s very weak performance also helped to flatter the annual comparison.

“Our own figures show most of the sales growth was in the week leading up to Easter. While customers are more confident than they were this time last year, the political and economic uncertainty surrounding the election is holding back underlying spending for now.”

The figures also confirm annual public borrowing in the UK hit £152.8 billion - the highest since records began.

The grim record for public sector net borrowing came after the UK slumped into the red by another £23.5bn in March, according to the ONS.

But borrowing for the financial year to the end of March came within the Chancellor's lowered Budget forecast.

Annual borrowing reached £163.4bn excluding financial intervention - far lower than Alistair Darling’s original £178bn estimate.

The UK’s public sector net debt is now a record 62 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and borrowing has soared amid the recession as unemployment.

The budget deficit widened by £14.8bn in March to take the gaping hole in public finances to an all-time record of £107.6bn over the financial year, more than double the £49.7bn recorded a year earlier.

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