Reeves to scrap two-child benefit cap September 30, 2025 Rachel Reeves is poised to abolish the two-child benefit cap at next month’s Budget, in a move that will be cheered by anti-poverty campaigners but is likely to stoke bond market fears that the government is unable to reign in runaway spending and borrowing. The Chancellor is said to be exploring a new tapered system [...]
Gilt auction demand lowest in two years in sign of pre-Budget jitters September 25, 2025 Gilt market jitters in the run-up to the Budget bled into demand at government bond auctions for the first time on Thursday, as sales of bonds saw interest from investors hit its lowest in at least two years. Auctions of five- and 30-year gilts issued by the Debt Management Office (DMO) this week attracted the [...]
Bank of England’s Pill: We should not have slowed QT bond sales September 23, 2025 The Bank of England’s chief economist has hit out at colleagues’ recent decision to slow sales of the central bank’s government debt stockpile, warning it risked papering over underlying drivers of spiking government borrowing costs and causing a “more painful” crisis in the future. In a speech delivered in Geneva, Huw Pill told delegates that [...]
Rachel Reeves defends Labour against bond market selloff September 9, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has launched a defence of Labour’s economic record and blamed her Tory predecessors for the mass selloff in the gilt market despite growing criticism of the government’s fiscal policies. In a parliamentary session before MPs, Reeves said the government had made “fully funded and fully costed” plans to support its £190bn splurge [...]
The worrying bond market trend no one is talking about September 1, 2025 Spiking interest rates on the UK government’s borrowing costs have set off a fresh wave of commentary on the health of Britain’s economy. Ali Lyon explores why it is only long-dated bonds where tremors have been most pronounced, and why the U has plenty of company. What will you be doing in 30 years’ time? [...]
Borrowing costs surge as gilts close in on 27-year low August 26, 2025 Long-dated gilts plunged to a near 27-year low on Tuesday, bringing the UK’s fragile fiscal position into even sharper relief in the run-up to the government’s second Budget this Autumn. The yield on 30-year UK government bonds, which moves inversely to the price, jumped by as much as nine basis points to 5.63 per cent, [...]
UK government borrowing since April hits £60bn August 21, 2025 The UK government borrowed a total of £1.1bn last month, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), compared to £2.3bn last year and below the fiscal watchdog’s £2.6bn forecast. The total deficit hit £60bn in the months since April, which is £6.7bn more than in the same four-month period of 2024 and the third-highest [...]
Ray Dalio: UK is in a ‘debt doom loop’ July 28, 2025 The UK is in a “debt doom loop” of high taxes, low growth and a ballooning debt pile, according to one of the world’s most renowned investors, who also warned that the need to raise taxes will only drive more wealthy residents to leave. Ray Dalio, the billionaire who founded US hedge fund giant Bridgewater [...]
Rachel Reeves oversees higher government borrowing than expected July 22, 2025 Government borrowing has overshot predictions, putting Rachel Reeves under more pressure to take control of public finances. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said public sector borrowing hit £20.7bn in June, higher than market expectations which pencilled in just over £17bn in borrowing. Borrowing in June this year was some £6bn more than at the [...]
Bond markets calm despite government benefits u-turn June 27, 2025 The cost of government borrowing has stayed flat on Friday morning despite the Starmer administration’s costly benefits U-turn blowing a £3bn hole in the UK’s precarious public finances. Gilts – the name for UK government bonds – opened in a muted fashion across the curve. 10-year yields nudged down two basis points (bps) in early [...]