Soaring oil prices of above $108 a barrel after Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure stoke inflation fears

US government borrowing costs have risen to 5% for the first time since 2023 as soaring oil prices fuelled by the war in the Middle East trigger an intensifying sell-off in the global bond market.

The yield – in effect the interest rate – on 10-year US Treasury bonds hit the psychologically important threshold on Monday, on a day of renewed selling pressure on Wall Street as the global oil price reached $108 a barrel.

As John Healey drafts his autumn budget, the US president’s policies continue to inflate debt servicing costs

Britain is not entirely in control of its own destiny, from the rising cost of the weekly shop, to the vaulting cost of government borrowing. What is said and done in Westminster matters. But the global backdrop is making life tough, not least in the deeds and words of one man: Donald Trump.

As John Healey drafts his plan for next month’s autumn budget, the perilous economic conditions the chancellor must navigate can be traced back to the door of the US president.