Investing.com – The yields on UK government bonds rose Thursday after Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she was prepared to announce new measures to ensure it meets its fiscal rules in March.
At 06:20 ET (11:20 GMT), the yield on benchmark 10-year UK government bonds, known as gilts, rose 6 basis points to 4.70%. Prices and yields move inversely.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering in Davos, Reeves said she may announce new measures at a budget update scheduled for March 26.
Reeves set out new fiscal rules in October, including a pledge to borrow only for investment and not to pay day-to-day bills by the fiscal year ending March 2030.
“We will find ways to ensure we continue to meet those fiscal rules,” Reeves told WSJ Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker. “I’ll set out the measures that are necessary, if they are necessary.”
However, data released earlier this week showed that Britain ran a bigger-than-expected budget deficit in December, with a sharp sell-off in British government bonds swelling debt interest costs.
Public sector net borrowing was £17.8 billion pounds ($22 billion) in December, more than 10 billion pounds higher than a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday.
