The government’s priority for the time being is restoring “stability,” Hunt said when presenting the key points of his new budget. The Chancellor of the Exchequer also wanted to address Parliament in the afternoon (from 4.30 p.m. CEST). The budget should be complete by October 31st.
His ministry also wants to review whether a costly freeze on gas and electricity prices can be maintained beyond this winter, Hunt said. After the review, it should be determined how the government will subsidize the massively increased bills for electricity and gas “beyond April next year”.
Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss fired former Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday and replaced him with ex-Foreign Minister Hunt. A tax cut package announced by Kwarteng three weeks ago had caused unrest on the financial markets due to the threat of high government debt, causing interest rates on British government bonds to skyrocket and causing the pound to collapse.
Truss was scheduled to meet MPs Monday night. The prime minister has been under massive pressure for days. Your tax cut package had led to shaking heads and strong resentment in the ranks of the conservative governing party.
The government’s package, intended to boost economic growth and curb high inflation, included a tax cut for top earners and a costly freeze on gas and electricity prices. Investors feared an accumulation of new mountains of debt.
Truss has already withdrawn the planned tax cut for the rich, but continued to face harsh criticism and calls for his resignation. British media were already speculating about her successor at the weekend.
