UK’s Labour opens door for more investment borrowing

Britain’s opposition Labour Party set out the fiscal rules it would use if it wins the next election, seeking to show voters and investors it can be trusted to reinvigorate a stagnant economy while leaving the door open for more public investment.
Labour’s finance policy chief Rachel Reeves used a high-profile public lecture on Tuesday to build on her party’s pitch on the economy as it bids to end 14 years out of power by ousting Prime Minster Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives.
“Let me be clear about the rules which will bind the next Labour government,” would-be finance minister Reeves said, speaking at a business school in London.
“That the current budget must move into balance, so that day-to-day costs are met by revenues, and that debt must be falling as a share of the economy by the fifth year of the forecast, creating the space to respond to future crises.”
Her balanced budget rule – which did not come with a specified timeframe – would give Labour room to borrow for investment, something many economists believe is needed to stimulate growth.