Financial market worries over the UK budget appear to ease

Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Worries about this week’s tax-raising U.K. budget within financial markets appear to have eased with the interest rates charged on British debt steadying and the pound rising against most other currencies. In the wake of Wednesday’s budget statement, the first by a Labour government for 14 years, British financial assets have been choppy, with investors taking a more risk-averse approach by selling both government bonds and the pound. The budget saw taxes raised by 40 billion pounds ($52 billion),  proportionately the biggest for over three decades, and borrowing and spending increased — a combination that clearly unnerved some investors. On Friday, the yield, or interest rate, charged on the U.K.’s 10-year bonds held steady, while the pound rose.