UK finance minister Jeremy Hunt has delayed his budget by more than two weeks, buying the government more time to make difficult choices about how to tackle the country’s “profound economic crises”
Hunt will now deliver the government’s medium-term fiscal plan on November 17, according to a statement from the Treasury. It had been scheduled for October 31, after the date was previously pulled forward by more than three weeks in a desperate attempt to reassure investors spooked by huge unfunded tax cuts promised by former Prime Minister Liz Truss.
Rishi Sunak, Britain’s third Prime Minister in seven weeks, took office on Tuesday with a pledge to fix the “mistakes” Truss made.
“This will mean difficult decisions to come,” he said in his first speech outside Downing Street.
Truss’ “mini” budget of September 23 crashed the pound and caused a rout in the bond market, sending UK borrowing costs — including mortgage rates — soaring.
While Hunt has already jettisoned the bulk of those tax cuts, restoring a sense of calm to markets, investors remain anxious to understand how the government plans to tackle its growing debt burden in the middle of a recession.
According to Hunt, the budget, when it comes, will set out how the government plans to reduce debt in the medium term. At a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Hunt said that it will be accompanied by a complete analysis of the government’s plans for growth and spending by the UK fiscal watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility.
Source: CNN
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