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| David Cameron: Cheap borrowing the priority | David Cameron: Cheap borrowing the priority |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Prime Minister David Cameron has said reducing the UK's debt burden to ensure it can borrow money cheaply from international investors remains the government's top priority. | Prime Minister David Cameron has said reducing the UK's debt burden to ensure it can borrow money cheaply from international investors remains the government's top priority. |
| For this reason, he told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show, the UK's triple-A rating was "hugely important". | For this reason, he told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show, the UK's triple-A rating was "hugely important". |
| Mr Cameron said the coalition also needed to address youth unemployment, which was "much too high". | Mr Cameron said the coalition also needed to address youth unemployment, which was "much too high". |
| The economy needed rebalancing, with a larger private sector, he added. | The economy needed rebalancing, with a larger private sector, he added. |
| The prime minister said it was vitally important the government maintained its "credibility for deficit reduction" so it could continue to borrow money at low rates of interest. | The prime minister said it was vitally important the government maintained its "credibility for deficit reduction" so it could continue to borrow money at low rates of interest. |
| "Britain needs low interest rates, and we can only keep interest rates low if we have a credible policy on debt," Mr Cameron said. | |
| 'Negative outlook' | |
| The coalition has introduced a series of austerity measures designed specifically to reduce the country's debt levels. | The coalition has introduced a series of austerity measures designed specifically to reduce the country's debt levels. |
| Despite these efforts, last month Standard & Poor's became the last of the three main international credit rating agencies - the other's being Moody's and Fitch - to put the UK on a "negative outlook". It raised concerns about levels of government borrowing and weak growth in the UK economy. | |
| Critics argue that the government's spending cuts have undermined growth in the economy, which has been anaemic in recent years. | |
| The economy emerged from a double-dip recession between August and October last year with strong growth of 0.9%, but a number of economists fear it could have contracted again in the final quarter. | |
| The UK currently holds a AAA rating from all three agencies - the only country apart from Germany and Canada to do so. | The UK currently holds a AAA rating from all three agencies - the only country apart from Germany and Canada to do so. |
| There are concerns that if the UK loses its top rating, international lenders would view the country's economy as more risky and charge the government more to borrow money. | There are concerns that if the UK loses its top rating, international lenders would view the country's economy as more risky and charge the government more to borrow money. |
| 'Good signs' | |
| Mr Cameron also said that although there were more people in work now than when the coalition came to power, youth unemployment in particular needed to fall. | |
| He said cuts in the public sector were unavoidable given the need to reduce government debt, and argued the private sector needed to grow to compensate. | |
| He said there were "good signs [that this rebalancing] was taking place", adding that it was important the economy became less reliant on the financial sector. | |
| The unemployment rate in the UK currently stands at 7.8%, after August to September saw the biggest quarterly fall in the number of people out of work since 2001. |