UK Finance Minister reverses mini budget plan, reins in energy subsidy
The new British finance minister Jeremy Hunt has reversed nearly all of Prime Minister Liz Truss’s mini-budget that had sparked market turmoil.
He has also reined in a vast energy subsidy plan, saying the country needed to rebuild investor confidence.
Hunt was appointed on Friday to fix the public finances after Truss’s economic plan hammered the value of British assets.
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He said the country needed to generate confidence and stability before it could seek to grow the economy.
He said changes to planned tax cuts would raise 32 billion pounds ($36 billion) every year. Government spending cuts will also be required to narrow a hole in public finances, to the tune of 72 billion pounds ($81 billion).
“I remain extremely confident about the UK’s long term economic prospects as we deliver our mission to go for growth,” he said in a televised clip.
“But growth requires confidence and stability, and the United Kingdom will always pay its way.”
Sterling extended its gains against the dollar, to be up 1.2% at 11.20 a.m. (1020 GMT), and government bond prices edged higher.
Reuters/Hauwa Abu
