It's the day he'll be unveiling official forecasts showing borrowing and debt both going up.

BBC: Autumn Statement: A difficult day for George Osborne

With the Bank of England's Bank rate still at a record low of just 0.5%, the expectation is that the official cost of borrowing can only go up when it is next changed.

BBC: More fixed-rate mortgages go up

The official investment grade reduces borrowing costs and widens the pool of potential investors.

BBC: Philippines upgraded by Fitch to investment grade

Capital spending financed by asset sales will not add to public borrowing, nor, under the conventions, to the official control total for public expenditure.

ECONOMIST: State assets

In 2007, Mount Holyoke College started a similar program, and half the students who received counseling changed their borrowing plans, says Gail W. Holt, a financial-services official at the Massachusetts school.

WSJ: To Pay Off Loans, Grads Put Off Marriage, Children

All these relatively minor measures are likely to be overshadowed by yet another downgrading of the official economic forecasts by the Office for Budget Responsibility which is likely to predict lower growth and higher borrowing in the years to come.

BBC: Budget 2013: Cuts, giveaways and grim forecasts

Bank borrowing costs reached 6.88% on September 30th, more than three times the level of official American rates, while some were willing to pay a remarkable 11% to borrow dollars from the European Central Bank (ECB).

ECONOMIST: When banks find it hard to borrow, so do the rest of us