LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's debt office chief said on Tuesday the country could issue more ultra long-dated government bonds this year if demand from investors is strong.
Britain received a record 37.8 billion pounds ($51 billion) of demand at the launch of a new bond maturing in 2071 last month, showing continued strong investor appetite for British government debt.
"Having just issued (the 2071 bond) we are not going to leave it stranded there," Robert Stheeman, the chief executive of the UK Debt Management Office, told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference.
"We will certainly be looking to build up there," he said.
Ultra-long British government bonds typically draw strong demand from life insurers and pension funds, who use the bonds to match their long-term liabilities.
Governments globally have been issuing longer-dated bonds to lock in historically low borrowing costs and as investors look to longer maturities for higher returns amid very low interest rates.