How worried should we be by the UK’s public debt trajectory?
Monday 4 March 2024
At 3pm on Tuesday 5 March, the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee will hear evidence from Professor Joseph Stiglitz from Columbia University, former Chief Economist at the World Bank.
This evidence session, which is open to the public, will be held in Committee Room 3 of the House of Lords. It will also be streamed live and on demand on Parliament TV.
Questions the committee is likely to ask in this session include:
- What are your expectations for the path of interest rates over the medium to longer term, and what will this mean for debt sustainability?
- What does the global economic and geopolitical outlook mean for debt sustainability across the G7?
- What would you regard as a meaningful fiscal rule for the UK government to adopt when considering long-term fiscal stability?
- At what point does the overall tax-take have a detrimental impact upon growth?
More about the How sustainable is our national debt? inquiry
UK public sector net debt, often referred to as ‘national debt’, currently stands at just under 100 per cent of GDP.
The UK’s growth outlook remains weak; quantitative easing has significantly increased the sensitivity of the UK’s debt to changes in short-term interest rates; and it is unclear whether the Government’s fiscal rule, as it relates to the national debt, is fit for purpose.
The committee’s inquiry will investigate whether the UK’s national debt is on a sustainable path; if not, what steps are required; and whether the Government’s fiscal rule regarding the national debt is meaningful.
