UK to reduce public debt by investing in its own bonds

The UK's public debt will be reduced by hundreds of millions of pounds thanks to a government agency that invested in government bonds maturing this year. About writes Bloomberg.

This is the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, which has been operating since 1786.

This year, it bought back £586 million ($785 million) worth of government bonds due in October 2025.

After the redemption, these securities will be "canceled," meaning they will not return to the market, which will slightly reduce the country's total debt, which currently stands at about 3 trillion pounds.

The money for the ransom came from the National Fund, a reserve created in 1927 to pay off the national debt. Initially, the fund had only 500,000 pounds at its disposal, but over almost a century, the amount has increased.

However, over time, it became clear that it was impossible to fully pay off the national debt at its expense, as the debt was also growing.

In 2023, the British Court of Appeal upheld the High Court's 2022 decision, which allowed the transfer of the Commission's debt relief fund.

According to Joe Whelan, the commission's secretary and chief accountant, it "occasionally buys back government bonds when it is most beneficial to reduce debt."

• Total public and publicly guaranteed debt of Ukraine in May increased by $1 billion. As of the end of June, it amounted to $180.97 billion (UAH 7.515 trillion).