UK public finances under heavy strain, says SP senior analyst
Sees limited room for manoeuvre for next government
SP cut UK credit rating to 39;AA39; from AAA in 2016
Has 39;stable39; outlook

LONDON, April 4 Reuters Britain39;s next government will have to tread carefully to avoid jeopardising the country39;s already diminished credit rating with the public finances under heavy strain, a senior analyst with SP Global Ratings said.

Maxim Rybnikov, SP39;s primary sovereign analyst for the United Kingdom, said whoever wins the election expected later this year will have to balance growing demands for more spending on services such as healthcare with the need to fix the public finances.

We do see fiscal risks, Rybnikov said in an interview on Wednesday. The picture is improving but we definitely still see them and we think that it39;s going to be not an easy position for the incoming administration to manage that.

Britain39;s opposition Labour Party, which is far ahead in opinion polls, has promised to stick with the current Conservative government39;s target of bringing down debt as a share of economic output between the fourth and fifth year in forecasts produced by Britain39;s budget watchdog.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is barely on course to hit that target and Labour is likely to come under pressure to spend more on public services with polls showing widespread dissatisfaction about the state of healthcare, education and housing.

SP cut Britain39;s credit…