That is below the £90.2bn figure estimated in March by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, and £11.1bn lower than last year's total.
March's borrowing figure was down £400m from a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics figures showed.
Finances in the month were helped by increased revenues from income tax and national insurance.
The ONS said taxpayers paid a record £15.5bn in income tax last month.
In the aftermath of the financial crisis, borrowing peaked at £153bn in 2009-10, the year before the Coalition government took power.
As a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), the deficit has more than halved since then from 10% to 4.8%.
Total Public Sector Net Debt (PSNB), which excludes help for state-controlled banks, stood at £1.484 trillion in March, equivalent to 80.4% of GDP.
The figure is £500bn higher than it was the year before the Coalition government took charge.
Government borrowing fell to £7.4bn in March, figures show, taking the total for the financial year to £87.3bn.