British PM Liz Truss sacks Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng in fight to survive, takes U-turn on tax cuts

London, October 14  

British Prime Minister Liz Truss fired her finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday, replacing him with former foreign minister Jeremy Hunt, and scrapped part of her big unfunded tax cut plans.

Truss said at a news conference Britain would retain a plan to increase corporation tax and said her government needed to act now to reassure markets about its fiscal discipline.

The pound pared some of its losses against the dollar, trading 1.2 per cent lower on the day at $1.1197.

Sterling hit a record low and British government bonds, or gilts, went into freefall, after the government released its “mini-budget” on September 23.

Two-year gilt prices turned negative after Truss spoke, while the blue-chip FTSE 100 index held on to the day’s gains, trading 1.3 per cent higher. Reuters