PBR: Downgrade more likely after today's report - Buxton

Schroders' Richard Buxton believes the chances of a UK sovereign credit rating downgrade has increased following today's Pre-Budget Report.

Buxton, the group's head of UK equities, believes the Chancellor delivered an "electoral" budget report, with spending cuts and tax increases effectively deferred until after the general election. "Whilst no increase in this year's public borrowing requirement is some comfort, the forecast path to gradual deficit reduction has been extended, taking longer and reducing more slowly," the Schroder UK Alpha Plus manager says. "This has to increase the chances of the UK's sovereign credit rating being downgraded. In turn, this reinforces the probability that sterling will remain weak and t...