Tax receipts remained buoyant in July, increasing by 13 per cent to £9.5 billion over the first seven months of the year.

The strong growth meant that the exchequer finances recorded a surplus of £1.59 billion for the seven months to the end of July, according to figures released by the Department of Finance yesterday.

This compares to a surplus of £929 million in the same period last year, while the surplus also showed an increase over the end-June level of £1.26 billion.