UK government borrowing ballooned in February on emergency support measures to cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, official data showed on Friday. Borrowing last month hit £19.1 billion (€22.3 billion), a record for February, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement. That contrasted with just £1.6 billion for the same month one year ago, just before the pandemic took hold. “The coronavirus pandemic has had a substantial impact on the economy and subsequently on public sector borrowing and debt,” the ONS said. The government has relied heavily on borrowing as tax receipts have tanked during COVID lockdowns. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government has spent £352 billion in emergency measures, particularly for its furlough scheme of paying the lion’s share of private sector wages for millions of Britons. Total state debt currently stands at £2.13 trillion, the equivalent of 97.5 per cent of Britain’s total gross domestic product, according to the ONS. Such a level has not been seen since the early 1960s, it noted. “Coronavirus has caused one of the largest economic shocks this country has ever faced, which is why we responded...