Thinktank figures warn of rising public debts

21/10/2008

Public spending could lead to the government owing the equivalent of £100,000 of debt for every household in the UK, a conservative thinktank has suggested.

According to new figures from the Centre for Policy Studies, a borrowing gap of £2.35 trillion is set to open out, due to the government's ambitious bank rescue and other spending plans.

Over £37 billion has been promised for the government's scheme to buy shares in struggling banks, for example.

Ministers have also said that they want to prioritise big infrastructure plans such as airport works and the Olympics over the months and years to come, partly in order to keep more people in work.

The thinktank's figures suggest that current "real" public debt - including several projects that have been left off the balance sheet in official data - stands at £1.85 trillion, three times the amount the government says it is.

This comes in the wake of new official figures showing that borrowing had hit £8 billion last month - up from £4.775 billion in September 2007 - due to the continuing costs of the credit crunch.

The new data was compiled for the Centre for Policy Studies by Conservative MP, Brooks Newmark.

Tags; Current UK Economy, Young Family Finances, Retirement Money Problems, Credit Card Lifestyle,

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