UK's Sunak wary of public finance impact if rates rise

LONDON – 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.”