Haldane Urges UK Spending Cuts Before Oct. 28 Budget as G7-Highest Borrowing Costs Bite
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Oct 6
Haldane Urges UK Spending Cuts Before Oct. 28 Budget as G7-Highest Borrowing Costs Bite
3 articles · Updated · CNBC · Oct 6
Summary
Andy Haldane said Britain is "on thin ice" ahead of the Oct. 28 Autumn Budget and warned the government must cut public spending to reassure bond markets.
Gilt yields, sticky inflation and weak growth have left the UK with the highest government borrowing costs in the G7, which Haldane said makes the country especially vulnerable as a "leveraged bet on the world economy."
Burnham's move to end the pension triple lock was a "good first instalment," Haldane said, but he called welfare the bigger test after markets were rattled when Labour previously softened planned benefit cuts.
John Healey is trying to build a fiscal buffer while funding defense and easing living costs, but ministers have not detailed the full mix of savings and taxes; Burnham has not ruled out tax hikes, including possible bank windfall levies.
Haldane also warned against targeting business in the budget, saying the private sector already feels overtaxed and arguing the government lacks enough economic and financial expertise.