Economists have warned the Chancellor could miss his borrowing targets after figures showed Britain's public finances slid deeper into the red in December.

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed Britain's public purse recorded a deficit of £11.4 billion last month.

The figure compares with a deficit of £9.4 billion the same month the previous year and shows a widening from the £6.4 billion deficit recorded the previous month.

The public finances usually record a deficit in December, which is a heavy month for paying interest on Government debt. However, higher spending and lower tax receipts have meant the public finances have deteriorated compared with the previous year.

On the Government's preferred measure, the deficit is running at £21.4 billion for the fiscal year to date, against a deficit of £5.5 billion the previous year.

Chancellor Gordon Brown forecast in his Pre-Budget Report that borrowing would reach about £20 billion this fiscal year - a revision on the previous £11 billion prediction.

Mr Brown revised the borrowing projection in the light of the less favourable economic outlook.

Economists now say even the new projections could be too optimistic.

David Page, economist at Investec, said: "While this is a trend we have become used to, today's deficit is over £2 billion worse than the same time last year.

"If this deterioration is repeated over the final months of the year, even the Treasury's forecast of a £20.7 billion deficit may be missed."

Ross Walker, economist at Royal Bank of Scotland, said: "The underlying picture shows a deterioration in the public finances of around £1.5 billion to £2 billion a month, suggesting that the Chancellor is broadly on track to meet his revised borrowing forecasts of £20 billion this year.

"Nevertheless, ongoing weakness in corporation tax receipts means the risks remain skewed towards a further overshoot in public borrowing."

Meanwhile, the Governor of the Bank of England warned of a "terrific imbalance" in the UK economy.

Sir Edward George said the different conditions for the export and domestic markets were "uncomfortable" and had got worse over the last two years.

But he remained upbeat about the overall position of the UK economy and predicted growth once "nervousness" over issues such as Iraq had passed.