Amid economic turmoil, British Prime Minister Liz Truss has sacked finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng and appointed Jeremy Hunt to the post. The move is aimed at stemming the economic turmoil unleashed by Kwarteng’s mini-budget last month.
Truss is expected to stage a major U-turn on her right-wing economic plan following turmoil on financial markets. Kwarteng took to Twitter to confirm that he has been asked to “stand aside” as Chancellor.
Earlier, Kwarteng cut short his visit to the US for an International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington to fly back for a meeting with Prime Minister Truss. It had triggered speculation over his job and possible U-turns on the tax cuts he had tabled in Parliament, which had resulted in the pound plummeting against the dollar.
Bank of England stepped in to buy the country’s long-term bonds to shore up the pension funds.
The estimated 45 billion pounds worth of tax cuts without a detailed funding plan to back it up were seen as disastrous for the UK economy at a time when inflation has already been soaring.