LONDON (Reuters) -Britain recorded a slightly larger-than-expected budget deficit in August, official data showed on Thursday, the fourth-highest August borrowing since records began in 1993.

The public sector spent more than it received in taxes and other income during the month, requiring it to borrow 11.6 billion pounds ($14.29 billion), the Office for National Statistics said.

A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to public sector net borrowing, excluding state-owned banks, of 11.3 billion pounds.

"These numbers show why after helping families in the pandemic we now need to balance the books," finance minister Jeremy Hunt said in a statement.

"That becomes much easier when inflation is under control because higher inflation pushes up interest rates, so we need to stick to the plan to get it down."

($1 = 0.8120 pounds)

(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar; Editing by William Schomberg)