Britain's economy has been mired in recession since late last year, and the government has faced growing calls to focus on growth rather than austerity.
Last month, the International Monetary Fund said Britain could need to cut taxes or boost investment spending to support growth if the economy has not picked up by early next year.
So far, finance minister George Osborne has focused on schemes to lower banks' funding costs to get credit flowing, as well as guarantees to support infrastructure investment without spending taxpayers' money directly. Measures to support house-building are expected next month.
Tuesday's data showed that government receipts in July fell 0.8pc on the year, driven by a near 20pc drop in corporation tax, while current spending grew 5.1pc.
Lower revenues from oil and gas companies accounted for about £1bn of a £1.7bn shortfall in corporation tax compared to last year.
Public sector net debt, excluding financial sector interventions, totalled 65.7pc of gross domestic product, a record for the month of July, but down from the all-time record of 66.2pc hit in June.
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