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UK leaders dig in over fiscal policy after turmoil in markets
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PM Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng have come under fire over their fiscal policies. /Dylan Martinez/Pool/AFP
PM Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng have come under fire over their fiscal policies. /Dylan Martinez/Pool/AFP

PM Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng have come under fire over their fiscal policies. /Dylan Martinez/Pool/AFP

The UK's Prime Minister refused to bow to demands to publish an early forecast of government growth plans and the impact of planned tax cuts which have led to turmoil in the financial markets.

Finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng unveiled a string of lower taxes last week that were, unusually, not accompanied by forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). 

The resulting sell-off led the Bank of England to intervene with emergency bond-buying to protect pension funds from partial collapse.

Kwarteng has come under pressure to allay market fears and bring forward a fiscal statement planned for November 23, when he has said he would publish the OBR forecasts and detail the costs of the debt-financed tax cuts, along with a path to lower debt in the medium term.

However, after Prime Minister Liz Truss and Kwarteng met the OBR's chair Richard Hughes on Friday, the finance ministry said the timing of Kwarteng's "Medium-Term Fiscal Plan" was unchanged.

"They discussed the process for the upcoming economic and fiscal forecast, which will be published on 23 November, and the economic and fiscal outlook," the Treasury said in a statement.

"They agreed, as is usual, to work closely together throughout the forecast process and beyond."

The OBR said the first draft would be delivered to Kwarteng on October 7, and it would "as always, be based on our independent judgment about economic and fiscal prospects and the impact of the government's policies."

The watchdog had said on Thursday it had offered to produce an analysis for Kwarteng's tax-cutting plan but were not commissioned to do so.

A senior parliamentary committee has joined those urging Kwarteng to bring forward his November statement to calm markets, echoing calls from other lawmakers in the ruling Conservative Party. 

Truss, who only replaced Boris Johnson as Prime Minister this month, has argued the market turbulence is a result of global problems caused by the Russian  conflict in Ukraine, and that she will stick to her plan to snap the economy out of years of stagnant growth.

She also says the government had to intervene to provide support to help people and businesses with their energy bills, a package that the government said would cost about $66 billion for the next six months, in order to keep a typical household's bill to under £2,500 ($2,800) a year.

Official data showed on Friday that UK's economy grew in the second quarter but was still below its pre-pandemic peak. 

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There was also a boost for Sterling on Friday, making its biggest weekly gains since March 2020. In a turnaround from the record lows the pound struck on Monday in reaction to the so called mini-budget fiscal plan, and helped by emergency BoE bond buying, the UK currency rose to a one-week high on Friday.

In a volatile session, the pound rose 0.5 percent to $1.1171. It had touched a one-week high of $1.1235 in early London trading. Versus a weakening euro, hit by record high inflation in the euro zone, the pound increased by 0.7 percent to 87.79 pence.

Critics say Truss and Kwarteng should have included forecasts from the OBR to reassure markets about where the funding would come from before announcing their proposed £45 billion ($50 billion) of tax cuts.

The International Monetary Fund has criticized the plans, saying they would increase inequality in the UK. 

Polls indicate the public is also unimpressed with the government's proposals, with surveys giving the opposition Labour Party a huge lead.

Source(s): Reuters

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