Borrowing costs have just passed Liz Truss levels

The new year may have rustled up some surprise stand-offs for the Labour government (mainly calls from X founder Elon Musk for Keir Starmer to resign), but the rise of new problems does not mean the old problems have disappeared. A harsh reminder has been dished out this morning, as long-term borrowing costs reached a 27-year high, calling into question yet again exactly how the Treasury is going to make good on its spending commitments while sticking to the Chancellor’s own fiscal rules.

Thirty-year gilt yields hit 5.21 per cent this morning – a level that surpasses the surge in borrowing costs following Liz Truss’s mini-Budget in 2022. The ten-year gilt is now parallel to the peak reached under Truss, too.