▁and ▁fund ed ▁deb t . ▁Un fund ed ▁deb t , ▁short - term ▁oblig ations ▁not ▁fund ed ▁by ▁interest ▁pay ments ▁on ▁the ▁part ▁of ▁the ▁bor ro wer , ▁included ▁army , ▁ordin ance , ▁n avy , ▁and ▁ex che quer ▁b ills ▁and ▁was ▁more ▁cost ly ▁for ▁the ▁tre as ury ▁to ▁rep ay ▁than ▁longer - term ▁deb t . ▁Fund ed ▁deb t , ▁long - term ▁oblig ations ▁fund ed ▁through ▁interest ▁pay ments ▁made ▁by ▁the ▁bor ro wer ▁over ▁the ▁term ▁of ▁the ▁loan , ▁was ▁primarily ▁used ▁to ▁ret ire ▁more ▁cost ly , ▁short - term ▁deb t . ▁This ▁helped ▁to ▁length en ▁the ▁term ▁of ▁the ▁deb t ▁and ▁reduce ▁the ▁government ' s ▁deb t ▁service ▁pay ments . ▁ ▁The ▁country ▁could ▁purs ue ▁this ▁strategy ▁because ▁credit ors ▁considered ▁Britain ' s ▁stable ▁parliament ary ▁government ▁reliable , ▁which ▁allowed ▁it ▁to ▁issue ▁a ▁substantial ▁quantity ▁of ▁deb t . ▁Britain ▁followed ▁this ▁traditional ▁fund ing ▁method ▁— ▁fund ing ▁ 9 0 ▁per ▁cent ▁of ▁its ▁exp end it ures ▁through ▁borrow ing ▁— ▁until ▁ 1 7 9 8 , ▁but ▁as ▁the ▁Napole onic ▁wars ▁drag ged ▁on , ▁Britain ' s ▁massive ▁exp end it ures ▁rose ▁to ▁un pre ced ented ▁levels . ▁Britain ▁was ▁forced ▁to ▁adopt ▁additional ▁fund ing ▁methods . ▁ ▁Tax es ▁To ▁help ▁with ▁w art ime ▁b ills , ▁William ▁Pitt ▁the ▁Young