UK debt 'riskier' than France and Germany - papers 3 Dec

The cost of buying insurance covering the Treasury from defaulting on its gilts in the next five years reached a record high of 106.5 basis points above Libor at one stage on Tuesday. A year ago the insurance, known as a derivative called a "credit default swap" (CDS) stood at 7.2 basis points. This compares to a CDS of 32.3 basis points for Norway, 38.1 for Germany and 54.4 for France. The Conservative party said the higher cost of insurance on the UK defaulting followed the record level of borrowing outlined in last week's pre-Budget report. The Government plans to borrow £118bn nex...