In our view, the U.K. has a wealthy, open, and diversified economy, supported by a well-established political system and macroeconomic policy framework, which can react quickly to economic challenges. We expect economic policy to focus on closing the fiscal gap, and we forecast the government's net debt burden to peak in 2013. The U.K. benefits from a large liquid market for government debt issuance, almost entirely funded in domestic currency at long maturities. We are therefore affirming our 'AAA/A-1+' sovereign credit ratings on the U.K. The stable outlook reflects our expectation that the government will implement the bulk of its fiscal consolidation program. On Oct. 3, 2011, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'AAA' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term sovereign
