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UK finance minister Kwarteng has been sacked
Kwarteng is no longer chancellor of the exchequer, the BBC said. The Times newspaper reported earlier that Kwarteng was expected to be sacked.
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Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng exits a car on Downing Street in London, Britain, October 14, 2022.
(Reuters/Henry Nichols)
B
ritain's finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng has been sacked after less than six weeks in the job, the BBC reported on Friday, as the government's massive tax cuts sparked financial market turmoil.
Kwarteng is no longer chancellor of the exchequer, the BBC said. The Times newspaper reported earlier that Kwarteng was expected to be sacked.
His sacking makes Kwarteng Britain's shortest serving chancellor since 1970, and his successor would be the UK's fourth finance minister in as many months as the nation grapples with a cost-of-living crisis.
Downing Street confirmed that Prime Minister Liz Truss, in power for only 37 days, would hold a press conference later on Friday. Minutes earlier Kwarteng landed back in London after he left IMF meetings in Washington early to work on their economic plan.
British government bonds rallied further, adding to their partial recovery since Truss's government started looking for ways to balance the books after her unfunded tax cuts crushed the value of British assets and drew international censure.
Kwarteng had announced a new fiscal policy on Sept. 23, delivering Truss's vision for vast tax cuts and deregulation to try to shock the economy out of years of stagnant growth.
But the response from markets was so ferocious that the Bank of England had to intervene to prevent pension funds from being caught up in the chaos, as borrowing and mortgage costs surged.
Truss and Kwarteng have been under mounting pressure to reverse course since, as polls showed support for their Conservative Party had collapsed, prompting colleagues to openly discuss whether they should be replaced.
Having triggered a market rout, Truss now runs the risk of bringing the government down if she cannot find a package of public spending cuts and tax rises that can appease investors and get through any parliamentary vote in the House of Commons.
