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Britain faces among the highest borrowing costs of any developed nation — but bond markets offer 4 key lessons the government can embrace to remedy the issue, according to former U.K. Treasury minister Jim O’Neill.
Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe, the former economist and Goldman Sachs asset management chief said that the U.K. government needs to stop obsessing with social media and the “next 24 hours”, and instead focus on the big issues facing the country.
It comes after U.K. government bonds — known as gilts — came under heavy selling pressure on Tuesday amid calls for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign. While Starmer insists he is going nowhere, Britain could soon see its fourth leader in as many years.
“We have got to get rid of the triple lock,” O’Neil told CNBC, referencing Britain’s state pension which is guaranteed to increase annually by the highest of three metrics; consumer price inflation, average earnings growth, or a minimum of 2.5%.
