UK cannot take foreign bond buyers for granted: Treasury official

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain cannot take for granted that foreign investors will have a strong appetite for its government debt, the finance ministry's top official, permanent secretary James Bowler, told lawmakers on Monday.

Harriett Baldwin, the Conservative lawmaker who chairs the House of Commons' Treasury Committee, asked Bowler if he agreed with former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney that Britain's finances were "dependent on the kindness of strangers".

"By definition, yes," Bowler said. "The UK trades its financing requirement internationally, so...if you want to issue debt, you have to do so on the open market. That will find the price that people are willing to pay for it."

"Historically, our financing requirement is high, so we can't take in any way, shape or form that (demand) for granted."

(Reporting by David Milliken; Editing by Angus MacSwan)