PM tries to reassure businesses and investors in UK, while chancellor is in New York for IMF meeting
Good morning. Officially Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, will unveil Labour’s first budget (and probably most important for the whole parliament) on Wednesday next week. But in practice budget announcements are now two-week news events, because the Treasury knows that it is bad idea to spook the markets with lots of surprises on the day and so this government, like past governments, has been engaged in elaborate pitch-rolling, ensuring that there are plenty of reports in advance giving a broad idea of what is coming. Not all the stories you might read this week about what will be in the budget will be accurate, or Treasury-sanctioned, but quite a lot of them are.
One of the measures subject to a lot of pitch-rolling is the proposal to change the official definition of debt used in the government’s fiscal rules. Reeves has been hinting for a while that she will change this and today, at a meeting of the IMF in Washington, she will confirm this.
This yardstick – which will replace public sector net debt – will take into account all the government’s financial assets and liabilities, including student loans and equity stakes in private companies, as well as funded pension schemes.
This would give the chancellor room to increase borrowing for investment in long-term infrastructure …
The chancellor has made clear, both in her conference speech and consequently about her desire to see more investment in the economy.
It’s a matter of record that investors in the UK have previously said that UK investment levels are too low both in terms of public infrastructure and in terms of business investment more generally.
Investors shouldn’t be worried about this budget. This government is prioritising growth. It’s unashamedly pro-business.
You’ll have seen from the significant vote of confidence in the UK economy at the international investment summit that it is already the case that investors are responding positively to the government’s plans.
Continue reading… The Guardian Read More PM tries to reassure businesses and investors in UK, while chancellor is in New York for IMF meetingGood morning. Officially Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, will unveil Labour’s first budget (and probably most important for the whole parliament) on Wednesday next week. But in practice budget announcements are now two-week news events, because the Treasury knows that it is bad idea to spook the markets with lots of surprises on the day and so this government, like past governments, has been engaged in elaborate pitch-rolling, ensuring that there are plenty of reports in advance giving a broad idea of what is coming. Not all the stories you might read this week about what will be in the budget will be accurate, or Treasury-sanctioned, but quite a lot of them are.One of the measures subject to a lot of pitch-rolling is the proposal to change the official definition of debt used in the government’s fiscal rules. Reeves has been hinting for a while that she will change this and today, at a meeting of the IMF in Washington, she will confirm this.This yardstick – which will replace public sector net debt – will take into account all the government’s financial assets and liabilities, including student loans and equity stakes in private companies, as well as funded pension schemes.This would give the chancellor room to increase borrowing for investment in long-term infrastructure …The chancellor has made clear, both in her conference speech and consequently about her desire to see more investment in the economy.It’s a matter of record that investors in the UK have previously said that UK investment levels are too low both in terms of public infrastructure and in terms of business investment more generally.Investors shouldn’t be worried about this budget. This government is prioritising growth. It’s unashamedly pro-business.You’ll have seen from the significant vote of confidence in the UK economy at the international investment summit that it is already the case that investors are responding positively to the government’s plans. Continue reading…
