UK in talks about joining global defense bank led by Canada

The UK government is in discussions about joining a global investment bank, aimed at raising more money for defense spending, Report informs via BBC.

Chancellor John Healey is considering a bid to join the Defense, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB), not long after his predecessor Rachel Reeves rejected the idea.

Canada has been leading efforts to establish the bank, which supporters say would enable governments to borrow at lower costs to increase military spending.

Treasury officials stressed that no decision has been made. A government spokesperson said it was "fully committed to working alongside our international partners to scale defense industrial capacity."

Before he cancelled commitments due to the death of his father, Prime Minister Andy Burnham had been due to meet Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney in the UK on Wednesday.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is also travelling to the UK for his first meeting with the prime minister.

The DSRB is a multilateral bank aimed at providing cheaper loans to fund defence projects and has backing from Albania, Bulgaria, Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Romania, Türkiye and Ukraine.

Membership of the bank for the UK and other G7 countries would come with an upfront investment cost of around £870m spread over three years.

Paying for the UK's growing defense commitments is one of Healey's biggest headaches as he prepares for the Budget in October and next year's spending review.

The government has so far avoided committing to raising defense spending to 3% of national income by 2030, only repeating the longer-term goal of 3.5% by 2035.