London (MNI) - The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer is set Tuesday to reconfirm his commitment to tackling the country's public sector deficits by finding stg61 billion in departmental spending cuts and he will say the country's economic future cannot be left to the vagaries of the bond markets.

In comments issued ahead of George Osborne's speech Tuesday, he says while the previous Labour administration factored in stg44 billion in public spending cuts into the fiscal arithmetic, there was absolutely no detail behind these plans. The current government is committed to set

LONDON (MNI) - Senior Fitch Ratings Analyst Brian Coulton believes that UK debt will stabilise in the wake of what he called the 'strong' emergency budget announced by the new government here.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Coulton said that Fitch took the view of the Office for Budget Responsibility that the UK economic recovery would not be very strong.

The comments followed Monday's affirmation by S&P of the UK's AAA rating, although they also signaled that the UK is not yet completely out of the woods as regards a possible downgrade in the future.

LONDON (MNI) - Fitch Ratings says in a new special report that following an unprecedented economic and financial shock, the scale of the United Kingdom's (UK) ('AAA'/Stable Outlook) fiscal challenge is formidable and warrants a strong medium term consolidation strategy - including a faster pace of deficit reduction than set out in the April 2010 Budget.

LONDON (MNI) - UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said Monday night that the priority in fiscal policy has to be to "secure recovery".

The world economy has just come "through one of the deepest downturns" seen in recent years, Darling said during a Channel 4 debate between the finance spokesmen of the leading political parties.

But Darling said that "to cut away support prematurely would ... risk tipping us back into recession".

"We have got to

LONDON (MNI) - UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling admitted Monday night that there will have to be real spending cuts once the economy is out of recession.

Darling made the comments in a Channel 4 live debate with the opposition Conservative Treasury Spokesman George Osborne and Lib Dem Economic Spokesman Vince Cable.

The chancellor also said that the government should remain committed to only halving the budget deficit over the next 4 years, saying that cutting the deficit any faster -- as urged by the EU Commission and the credit rating

LONDON (MNI) - The EU Commission has warned a swathe of EU countries that their current budget plans may not be enough to achieve the fiscal goals recommended by the EU.

The programmes cover France, Germany, the UK, Spain, Italy and Sweden among others.

A number of countries are also warned that their economic assumptions may be excessively favourable and that therefore new budget measures may need to be implemented.

by Brai Odion-Esene

by Brai Odion-Esene

WASHINGTON (MNI) - Standard & Poor's Thursday gave a vote of confidence in the U.S. dollar, saying it believes the dollar will continue to be the key international currency, a position that it will retain "so long as inflation is moderate and stable, financial markets are sound and relatively unfettered, and U.S. government spending is efficient and sustainable."