The latest news on UK public finances is sobering. I've just gone through the latest public finance figures – complete with spreadsheets – released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) on 24 January.
Total UK state debt excluding both public sector bank liabilities and Bank of England short-term liabilities stood at £1,698.1 billion (call it £1.7 trillion) at close on 31 December 2016. This is overwhelmingly made up of bonds and bills ("Gilts") issued by the Treasury into the bond markets. That was an increase of £95.1 billion as compared with twelve months earlier.
According to the 24 January ONS publication, that yielded a national debt-to-GDP ratio of 86.2 percent. However, I note from the accompanying spreadsheet which can be downloaded from the ONS website that, when that ratio is calculated using GDP at market prices, it rises above the psychologically important 100 percent mark to a colossal 102.4 percent. There are many ways to cut and splice the figures so one should always consult several sources.
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