October 17, 2022
2 mins read

Hunt vows to win back financial market trust

Truss — who won the leadership of the Conservative Party barely a month ago after promising to slash taxes — fired Kwarteng on Friday and has ditched key parts of the programme they agreed together…reports Asian Lite News

Britain’s new Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt promised to win back the country’s economic credibility by accounting for every penny of the government’s tax and spending plans, while insisting that his boss Prime Minister Liz Truss remained in overall charge.

Truss appointed Hunt on Friday in an attempt to rescue her leadership as confidence in her ability to run the country drained away within both her own Conservative Party and international financial markets.

Investors have sold British government bonds heavily since September 23 when Mr. Hunt’s predecessor, Kwasi Kwarteng, announced a string of unfunded tax cuts without publishing a set of independent economic forecasts.

The knock on effects forced the Bank of England to make an emergency intervention to protect pension funds and drove up mortgage costs — adding to the squeeze on Britons’ finances.

“No government can control the markets. No Chancellor should seek to do that,” Mr. Hunt told BBC television in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

“There is one thing we can do and that’s what I’m going to do, which is to show the markets, the world, indeed people watching at home, that we can properly account for every penny of our tax and spending plans.”

Britain’s economy is at risk of going into recession at the same time as the Bank of England is raising interest rates to control soaring inflation. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said on Saturday he thought a big increase in interest rates would be needed in early November.

Truss — who won the leadership of the Conservative Party barely a month ago after promising to slash taxes — fired Kwarteng on Friday and has ditched key parts of the programme they agreed together.

The chaos has fuelled discontent in the governing party, which before Friday was already splintered and falling far behind the Opposition Labour Party in opinion polls. Sunday’s newspapers were rife with stories of plans to replace Truss.

Even US President Joe Biden criticised Truss’s original economic plan as a mistake.

“I think that the idea of cutting taxes on the super wealthy at a time when — anyway, I just think — I disagreed with the policy, but that’s up to Great Britain to make that judgment, not me,” he said.

After effectively dismantling Truss’s gamble that tax cuts would spur increased growth and pay for public spending, Hunt has said he will go further including imposing tighter spending controls and some tax rises.

“I’m going to be asking every government department to find further efficiency savings,” he said, adding that while he wanted to keep other tax cuts the government has promised, he ruled nothing out in his drive to balance the books.

He said he would set out the details in a fiscal statement already scheduled for October 31.

ALSO READ-Are lawmakers plan to oust Truss?

Previous Story

Life-size replica rocket lands in London

Next Story

Bolsonaro, Lula spar in 1st debate of runoff campaign

Latest from -Top News

Singapore’s Ruling Party Achieves Landslide Victory

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, whose party won the election, thanked supporters.,..reports Asian Lite News Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) won 87 of the 97 seats in Parliament in Saturday’s general election,

Jaishankar, Lavrov Discuss Pahalgam Terror Attack

Both the Ministers discussed issues of Russian-Indian cooperation and the aggravation of India-Pakistan relations following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam. External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar spoke to the Russian Foreign Minister

Ukrainian forces to join VE  procession  

Ukrainian personnel will join around 1,000 UK armed forces members, including soldiers on horseback and military bands, to symbolise “the global support for their continued fight for freedom” against Russia  krainian armed

Rajnath Singh to skip Russia visit

The decision comes amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan following the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir…reports Asian Lite News Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will not likely attend Russia’s

WAVES 2025: Jaishankar Advocates Cultural Pluralism

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar delivered a powerful address at the WAVES 2025 Global Media Dialogue, highlighting the significance of cultural pluralism in shaping global change. Speaking on the second day of
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Labour got more donations than other parties combined

The Conservatives’ biggest source of donations was a lottery, which

Ambulance staff and nurses to strike on Feb 6

The escalation in industrial action comes as thousands of nurses