Kwarteng trashes market bets on earlier OBR report and fiscal plan October 4, 2022 The pound today climbed to its highest level against the US dollar in two weeks despite chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng trashing market expectations of a sooner-than-expected fiscal plan. Sterling surged 0.78 per cent against the greenback to buy $1.141. It has now regained all its losses since Kwarteng’s mini-budget rocked the currency last month. UK borrowing [...]
Truss and Kwarteng mini-budget to ‘deepen’ UK recession October 4, 2022 Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s decision to slash taxes and ramp up borrowing without costing their plans will make the looming UK recession worse, City economists predicted today. Soaring mortgage rates driven by lenders passing on higher market yields pushed up by a lack of confidence in prime minister Liz Truss and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s [...]
Truss facing revolt on real-term benefits cut as she insists ‘no decision has been made’ yet October 4, 2022 Liz Truss has suggested she is undecided on increasing benefits in line with inflation, as she faces a rebellion from backbench Tory MPs over the policy. The embattled PM was probed on the issue during a BBC Radio 4 Today Programme interview, in wake of a testing day on Monday during which she was forced [...]
Kwarteng u-turn bodes ill for many tough fights to come October 3, 2022 The Kwarteng u-turn on tax doesn't suggest measures on planning or infrastructure will be any easier to get past restive backbenchers
FTSE 100 falls after dramatic 45p U-turn, as pound erases gains against dollar October 3, 2022 The pound pushed higher on Monday morning after the government said it would scrap its planned 45p income tax cut, while the markets dipped in response to the dramatic news. Sterling leapt by as much as one per cent against the US dollar to $1.12 early on Monday morning while teetering back slightly after a [...]
Govt must decide which ‘unpleasant combination’ of investment and benefit cuts will fuel mini-budget September 30, 2022 The government will have to decide which “unpleasant combination” of investment and benefit cuts will fuel its mini-budget stimulus package. a leading think tank has said. Prime Minister Liz Truss is appearing to stick with to Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget plans, despite the Tories sinking in the polls overnight with YouGov saying Labour now has [...]
UK borrowing costs surge and FTSE tanks after Truss and Kwarteng back mini-budget September 29, 2022 UK borrowing costs fired higher and the country’s largest listed companies tanked today after prime minister Liz Truss and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng doubled down on their tax cutting and borrowing plans. London’s FTSE 100, home to the UK’s top companies, shed 1.77 two per cent. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index nose dived more than three [...]
Bank of England launches £65bn emergency care package to tame UK market carnage September 28, 2022 The Bank of England today scrambled to head off a “material risk to UK financial stability” driven by higher UK borrowing costs. In a mid-morning statement to the City, the Bank said it is launching an emergency, time-limited bond buying scheme amid market chaos triggered by investor concerns over the UK’s fiscal and economic credibility. [...]
Rates on UK debt surge higher and pound slumps against US dollar September 28, 2022 Rates on UK debt surged higher today and the pound trailed the US dollar again driven by investors sweating over the government’s tax and borrowing splurge. The yield on the 30-year UK gilt jumped six basis points to 5.048 per cent, the highest since 1998. Investors were demanding a greater return ahead of the government [...]
IMF “monitoring developments” in UK after currency fall and mini-budget September 27, 2022 The International Monetary Fund gave Kwasi Kwarteng and Liz Truss a slap on the wrist this evening, with a spokesman saying it did not “recommend large and untargeted fiscal packages” amid inflation concerns. The warning from the IMF comes after another day of currency fluctuations, triggered by a so-called ‘mini budget’ of tax cuts announced [...]