LONDON: Britain's government borrowed less than expected in October despite the launch of some energy bill support measures, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday.

The Office for National Statistics said public sector net borrowing totalled 13.549 billion pounds ($16 billion) last month.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a reading of 22 billion pounds largely because the figures were expected to show large first payments under the government's energy bill support to households and energy suppliers.

The data showed 3.4 billion pounds of "other" subsidies - comprising an initial indicative estimate of the energy bill support measures. ($1 = 0.8447 pounds) (Reporting by Andy Bruce, Editing by Kylie MacLellan and Paul Sandle)