<\/p>\n
UK brings forward fiscal measures after budget turmoil<\/p>\n
By Roland Jackson<\/p>\n
London, United Kingdom \u2013 Britain\u2019s new finance minister Jeremy Hunt will unveil tax and spending measures later on Monday, bringing forward part of his fiscal plan to calm markets after a botched debt-fuelled budget.<\/p>\n
Hunt, who was parachuted into the job on Friday to replace sacked Kwasi Kwarteng, will \u201cmake a statement bringing forward measures from the medium-term fiscal plan\u201d that is due on October 31, the Treasury said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Liz Truss fired Kwarteng on Friday after their recent tax-slashing budget sparked markets chaos, fuelling intense speculation over her political future just one month after taking office.<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s measures \u201cwill support fiscal sustainability\u201d, the Treasury added, after last month\u2019s notorious mini-budget had sent bond yields spiking and the pound collapsing on fears of rocketing debt.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis follows\u2026\u00a0further conversations between the Prime Minister and the Chancellor over the weekend, to ensure\u00a0sustainable public finances\u00a0underpin economic growth,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
Chancellor of the Exchequer Hunt met with the governor of the Bank of England and the head of the Debt Management Office to discuss the plans late on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u2013\u2018Too far, too fast\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Following his shock appointment, Hunt hit the ground running Saturday with a warning of looming tax hikes as he dramatically reversed course on right-wing Truss\u2019 radical programme of economic reform.<\/p>\n The mini budget, unveiled on September 23, went \u201ctoo far, too fast\u201d, Hunt said over the weekend.<\/p>\n And the Chancellor warned that he was \u201cnot taking anything off the table\u201d amid speculation over painful\u00a0spending cutbacks, but also defended the prime minister.<\/p>\n Yet the furore over the budget \u2014 which contained vast tax cuts and a costly freeze on domestic energy prices \u2014 has reportedly sparked a plot to oust Truss from Downing Street.<\/p>\n In the wake of markets turmoil, the BoE was forced to jump into markets as a result under an emergency bond-buying policy which ended on Friday.<\/p>\n Tax cuts were the centrepiece of the ill-starred budget.<\/p>\n But they were financed through billions in extra borrowing, causing panic on financial markets at the prospect of higher inflation, which has already left British households in the grip of a cost-of-living crisis.<\/p>\n Truss dismissed Kwarteng hours after he had rushed home early from international finance meetings in Washington \u2013 and she then staged another U-turn in acquiescing to a significant rise in profits tax levied on companies.<\/p>\n The premier had already abandoned a tax for the wealthiest earners, which had sparked outrage as millions of ordinary Britons suffer from decades-high inflation.<\/p>\n Senior Conservative members of parliament were reportedly plotting to unseat Truss, possibly within days, aghast at the party\u2019s collapse in opinion polls since she replaced Boris Johnson on September 6.<\/p>\n \u2013 Trussonomics \u2018gamble\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n Monday\u2019s news sent the pound climbing 0.4 percent against the dollar while the UK\u2019s 30 year bond yield dipped slightly to 4.54 percent, as traders digested the news.<\/p>\n \u201cNew Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has the air of a troubleshooting teacher brought in to turn around a failing school and faces his first big presentation test today with an emergency budget plan wheeled out to try and calm financial markets,\u201d said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter.<\/p>\n But she warned: \u201cTrussonomics may have been ripped up and fed to the shredder \u2014 but the author of the big gamble remains in power, and has the final say on the direction of travel.\u201d<\/p>\n