Record borrowing but debt sustainability a distant concern for UK

Sunak_Covid_26Nov20_PA_575x375
By Lewis McLellan
26 Nov 2020

UK government borrowing is rocketing, with the country intending to borrow £485.5bn in its 2020/21 financial year. This has already pushed up its debt to GDP ratio over 100%, but the announcement of next quarter’s £92bn remit caused scarcely a ripple in the Gilts market on Wednesday. Market participants believe that any problems of debt sustainability or spiralling inflation are too distant a prospect to trouble them, writes Lewis McLellan.

UK chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak released his spending review on Wednesday, alongside the Office for Budget Responsibility’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook. In the absence of an autumn budget, the UK’s Debt Management Office took this an opportunity to announce its borrowing remit for the final quarter ...

Already a subscriber?

Continue reading this article

Try full access to GlobalCapital

Free trial

Want to learn more? View subscription options