Lord Higgins
Main Page: Lord Higgins (Conservative - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Higgins's debates with the HM Treasury
(13 years, 5 months ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lord Sassoon
My Lords, first, in relation to this discussion about borrowing costs, I am pleased to say that as of last week the UK’s 10-year borrowing costs, the benchmark for our gilts, hit practically the lowest that they have ever done, while the margin we pay in relation to the German bund has hit its best position since the general election. We absolutely must do these things to make sure that our interest rates remain low. As to how the reserve operates, I am happy to copy to the noble Lord the published rules that the Treasury uses. However, they are for consideration only in exceptional circumstances and would not be linked to the sorts of factors that he sets out.
Lord Higgins
My Lords, did the European bailout of the Greek Government deplete this reserve and would any extension of that process deplete it?
Lord Sassoon
No, it did not and I will not talk about hypothetical situations.