15:24 BST
Following the news that the rate for a 10-year loan to the British government soared to its highest level since 2008, we’ve been hearing about why it might be trickier for governments to borrow money.
Karen Ward, chief market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management, tells BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme there are “lots of people, lots of governments, lots of countries wanting to spend”.
It means the market’s getting a lot more choice over who they lend to and the interest rates, she says.
“We are trying to compete with governments all over the world
for global savings, and investors want to know the government has a clear plan
for exactly how it’s going to spend that money, and how those investors are
going to get repaid.”
The “bond markets” are often spoken about as if they’re some
sort of a “Bond villain” but, Ward says, two thirds of our debt is held by the British public – pensions being one example.
“The value of the national debt
really matters to us as well, so we’re all in it together.”