How Will the U.K. Pay Off Its Vast Debt?

Jul.14 -- As the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic pushes the U.K.'s national debt above 100% of gross domestic product for the first time since 1963, some lawmakers are urging Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to treat it like war debt, which would sit on the books for far longer than usual. Bloomberg's Anna Edwards reports.

[SW-fypq]

Both UK and US have no means and no plan to pay off the debt.

[NityaStriker]

Paying back debt requires wealth generation. After WW2, UK’s economy grew from $73B in 1960 to a peak of $3.1T in 2007. UK’s economy hasn’t grown since 2007.

[Shino]

I don't understand how Japan has been able to get away with their rising debt. I have heard the argument that the debt is owned by the Japanese people, but still don't understand how this makes things better.

[mrenovatio]

Nonsense. Do Bloomberg writers have any finance or economic training? UK pandemic debt is in £ Stirling literally their fiat currency that the UK creates itself... How can Bloomberg conflate that with owing debt denominated in other currencies to IMF or the US... Please hire someone who knows basic finance...

[seanlander]

Why not just call in the debt that France owes treasury for loans in WWI? It’s over £1.0Tn owing and Britain made its other sovereign debtors pay, so why not France?

[YorickReturns]

The thing with the war debt is that the market was pretty confident that a World War Three wouldn't happen or that, if it were to happen, we would all die anyway and thus the debt would be irrelevant. Is the market confident that another pandemic won't happen, before we've paid for this one? What about the fact that we already had an out-of-control national debt before this pandemic? Debt-to-GDP is an irrelevant measure, by the way, used to make the debt look less bad than it really is. GDP does not denote assets that the government can sell to pay off the debt.

[GG-uoxh]

By punishing the tax payer. Increase tax increase spend increase borrowing. Our stupid government.

[curtiscarpenter]

Tax increases on private enterprise, tax exporting used with a amount agreed your on year to pay it off or replace the need for it. Making long term savings saving at the rate of inflation with essential expenses, taxing borrowing and gambling. Have a plan to borrow more when credit rating improves. Lend on a shorter term basis then you borrow. Pay back debt according to how currencies fluctuate. Reduce debt to UK investor ownership in debt.🧠

[nixx]

2.13 trillion is the sum that MPs have extorted from the tax payer for "private finance initiatives." What does this mean? My mate Tarquin needs some dosh for his directors' new mansions extensions... Tarquin and pals get a new mansion extension and we pay for it through taxation. Politicians are the biggest dole scroungers, 'make no mistake' lol

[Malleus_Maleficarum_]

*They get much higher foreign debt than countries like Italy, but anglo propaganda as the Financial Times per years has continued to depict Italy as a bankrupted country like Greece, lol*

[alexandarvoncarsteinzarovi]

HA, HA, just wish the Fat Minister could see this,

[BayneBoy]

Tough decisions? Like cutting social spending ?

[peterhagan]

ye gods heard the interest last month in 2023 alone was 8. something billion and all tax incomes vat, paye etc are all in the negative a financer say the court if fluffed, like most recent governments are increasing debt exponentially surprisingly a conservative which jprides itself on the wise gate keepers of the countrys purse yeah right

[angelabakloyvovtchaikovsky]

Trust fund. There is a light and way out

[schumanhuman]

'Tough decisions' is code for austerity. The same self defeating idiotic idea that the Tories have spent the last few years claiming is over. National debts are never paid off entirely in trade deficit nations - or how would trade surplus nations get a surplus? That bad accountancy.
In fact calling Govt bond issuance borrowing is confused, if the central bank can effectively buy it's own bonds, and can pay any interest on the bonds by the monopoly power to create the currency, why even bother with the farce of the bond and simply issue the money directly? These bonds being owned largely by domestic corporations and financials means the bond is effectively corporate welfare and a govt created hedge on other assets.
One could argue it creates the bond yield curve by which economies and currencies are valued but if that is so obviously manipulated this all becomes more farcical. But preserving the farce serves a purpose as far as market convention would balk at divergence in the FX market. But be clear this is all arbitrary and ignores the bigger problem, private debt which will go into overdrive over the next 5-6 years culminating in another real estate crash probably around 2026/7 in accordance with the typical 18 year cycle.

[dertythegrower]

What does the UK actually make or do? Guinness beer isnt even popular much, taste like burnt wheat beer. They have tourism and trinkets for sad people who actually follow the royal donotmuch family ✌️🙄