The Government owes a lot of people a lot of money – nearly £3trillion and rising at pace. This financial year alone, Chancellor John Healey is expected to borrow around £115 billion, two and a half times the amount the Exchequer sought out just a decade ago.
The Government secures this cash via the gilts market, where loans are parcelled up into bonds and sold to investors, from financial institutions to individual savers. Known as gilts because the original paper certificates were edged with gold, these bonds vary in maturity from a few months to 50 years and more.
Most are issued
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