Finance
UK’s Sunak wary of public finance impact if rates rise
Published by maria gbaf
Posted on October 29, 2021
1 min readLast updated: January 29, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
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Published by maria gbaf
Posted on October 29, 2021
1 min readLast updated: January 29, 2026
Rishi Sunak warns that while UK debt servicing costs are low now, potential interest rate rises could impact public finances significantly.
LONDON (Reuters) – British finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Thursday the government’s level of debt was high and while the cost of servicing that was currently low he had to be alert to the risk that that could change.
“The amount of debt is large, and that’s a result of what’s happened across over the last 12 months,” he told BBC Radio. “But … the cost of servicing that debt currently is actually quite low… and that’s because interest rates are at the moment very low.”
“It’s one of the risks that I have to protect us against, because if they do rise that will have an impact on the public finances.”
(Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Alistair Smout)
The article discusses UK finance minister Rishi Sunak's concerns about the impact of potential interest rate rises on public finances.
The cost is low because current interest rates are very low, making debt servicing cheaper.
If interest rates rise, the cost of servicing the UK's high level of debt could increase, impacting public finances.
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