Cost of insuring UK government debt against default jumps

LONDON (Reuters) – The cost of insuring Britain’s debt against a default jumped to its highest level since mid-2020 on Friday as concerns mounted about the government’s plans to slash taxes and ramp up spending.

S&P global market intelligence data showed 5-year credit default swaps (CDS) – derivative instruments that debt investors typically use to hedge risk or bet against something – jumped 3.5 basis points to 34.5 points.

Such a large move is unusual for a G7 economy and it took the CDS level to its highest since mid-2020, when global markets were still in the most volatile stage of the COVID-19 crisis.

(Reporting by Marc Jones, editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)