THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: Chancellor’s plan to change rules to allow more borrowing comes as cost of government debt rises
Rachel Reeves is pushing ahead with plans to borrow billions of pounds extra for infrastructure investment, the Guardian has learned, despite concerns about the rising cost of UK government debt.
The chancellor told the cabinet on Tuesday she wanted to change how the Treasury accounted for capital spending to reflect its benefits, as allies say she intends to finalise her debt rule in the coming days.
The move, which will be confirmed to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) as soon as Wednesday, will allow the government to borrow tens of billions more for capital spending over the course of this parliament.
Whitehall sources say she is committed to the plan despite a recent rise in the government’s borrowing costs, which some market experts have blamed on the prospect of higher debt but which others say is more connected to the US economy. » | Kiran Stacey, Political correspondent | Tuesday, October 8, 2024
