Borrowing costs climb most since mini-Budget on inflation fears Economics The government’s borrowing costs rose dramatically on Friday and were on track to have their worst week since Liz Truss’s fateful mini-Budget, amid fears the escalating war in the Middle East will unleash another bout of high inflation. The interest rate on UK bonds – known as gilts – rose across the board, to reach [...]
UK bonds sell off after income tax U-turn Markets UK government bonds sold off sharply on Friday morning, as markets recoiled from the government’s decision to row back on plans to plug much of its multibillion-pound black hole with a manifesto-busting income tax hike. The yield on 10-year gilts – the common benchmark for the government’s long-term ability to borrow – climbed by some [...]
Bank of England’s Pill: We should not have slowed QT bond sales Economics 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 [...]
‘The most calls I’ve ever had’ – Why Japanese bonds have suffered surging yields May 27, 2025 The Japanese bond market has suffered one of its worst weeks in years. An auction on Japan’s 20-year government bond saw its bid-to-cover ratio, a measure of demand, sink to levels last seen in 2012, while the auction’s tail, the gap between average and lowest-accepted prices, widened to the longest since 1987, in another sign [...]
The great debt headache May 22, 2025 Debt, debt, everywhere but not a drop to… add to any well balanced investment portfolio. The world is awash with government bonds thanks to the debt piled up during the pandemic. But the increase in interest rates alongside the most significant bout of inflation for four decades has left investors in a quandary. What interest [...]
Fresh headache for Rachel Reeves as UK gilt yields spike to 1998 levels April 9, 2025 UK gilts have spiked to 30-year highs after a selloff in US Treasuries sent government bond markets worldwide spiralling. The yield on 30-year gilts spiked to 5.68 per cent this afternoon, before falling back slightly to 5.62 per cent, well above the previous multi-decade high of 5.47 per cent reached in January. The movement has [...]
‘Here for the long haul’: Reeves defends her position after market turmoil January 17, 2025 Rachel Reeves has insisted she is “here for the long haul” as she defended her position as Chancellor in the wake of bond market turmoil and rising government borrowing costs. The UK’s Chancellor has faced criticism for embarking on a trip to China last weekend while government borrowing costs surged and the value of the [...]
UK gilt auction fails to roll back yield spike January 15, 2025 A closely watched sale of UK government debt failed to roll back the alarming rise in yields after the £4bn auction did not drum up significant interest for gilts. The Debt Management Office (DMO) reported that the 2034 gilts were sold at a yield of 4.808 per cent, compared with 4.332 per cent in the last [...]
Pound sterling suffers as traders pare bets on Fed rate cuts January 13, 2025 The sell-off comes after a bruising week for UK assets last week, with sterling falling over three per cent and gilt yields picking up to the highest levels in decades.
Bond tumult prompts comparisons with Britain’s 1970s debt crisis January 9, 2025 The turmoil engulfing the UK gilt market has shades of the country’s debt crisis in the 1970s which culminated in the then Labour government needing a bailout from the IMF, according to multiple financial heavyweights. Nigel Green, chief executive of of the the world’s largest independent advisory businesses, called the market bedlam, which has seen [...]