[arista]

Chancellor to change debt rules to release Billions


[The government will change its
self-imposed debt rules in order to free
up billions for infrastructure spending,
the chancellor has told the BBC.
Rachel Reeves said that she would make
a technical change to the way debt is
measured which will allow it to fund
extra investment.

She said this was being done "so that we can
grow our economy and bring jobs and
growth to Britain".
However, Reeves' first Budget next week
is still expected to mean some cuts to
public services and tax rises.
The government has committed to get debt
falling as share of the economy
during the course of this Parliament,
rather than over a rolling five-year period.

But the wider debt measure is expected
to allow for up to £50bn more borrowing
for investment, although not all of this
is expected to be allocated at the Budget.
"We will be changing the measure of debt,"
Reeves told the BBC, adding that she will
set out the details of that on 30 October.]