Moody's warns of 'additional challenge' posed by loosening of UK fiscal rules

Autumn Budget reaction

Moody's has warned that Chancellor Rachel Reeves' decision to change the UK's fiscal rules to allow for more borrowing will pose an “additional challenge" for "already difficult" fiscal consolidation prospects.

In an assessment published on Friday (1 November), the ratings agency said the Budget unveiled earlier this week will lead to an increase in government spending by around £70bn annually over the next five years. Almost half of the expanded spending will come from borrowing, Moody's stated, which will reach around £28bn a year over the next five years, or 1% of UK's GDP, making fiscal loosening rules "the most aggressive" pursued since the onset of the Covid pandemic. "The decisions taken in the Budget mean that public sector net borrowing will be higher in each year of the forecast an...