Today’s Autumn Budget statement contains a number of measures which could impact on the UK water sector, including an overhaul of the planning infra regime, increased tax relief for shale gas, easier access to funding and moves to tackle tax avoidance by large corporation.

A new report from the Government’s spending watchdog the National Audit Office is warning that water bills will continue to rise above the rate of inflation for the next 17 years. The report also expresses concerns about water industry regulator Ofwat's role.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has published research highlighting up to $1 trillion of investment potential in renewable energy, resource efficiency, and climate change adaptation – including $70 billion in improved water usage - across Emerging Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa.

The outlook for the UK water sector remains stable on expectations that it will maintain its solid performance until the end of the current five-year regulatory period in March 2015, says Moody's Investors Service in its Industry Outlook report on the sector published today.

Persistent low real interest rates would negatively affect UK regulated utilities' fair value leverage, liquidity and interest cover, which could lead to companies needing to deleverage to maintain key financial metrics in line with their assigned rating, says Moody's Investors Service in two Special Comment reports on UK regulated utilities published today.