Finance Minister Healey to Announce Cautious, Market-Minded Budget

UK finance minister John Healey is expected to deliver a cautious first budget this week, emphasizing stability for the bond market rather than large spending plans. He will present it to parliament on Wednesday, with hints that households may get support for another rise in energy bills and that businesses could receive “breathing space” from rising costs. The backdrop includes the US-Israeli conflict involving Iran, which has pushed inflation higher and driven UK and global gilt yields to multi-decade peaks. Analysts say Healey’s room for maneuver is narrow after Britain’s public debt reached £3 trillion in September and debt servicing costs rose.