Posted on 10/02/2022 12:23 PM
(Credit: PAUL CHILDS / POOL / AFP)
Britain’s Prime Minister, the Conservative Liz Truss, admitted on Sunday (10/02) that she should have prepared the country better before announcing a decision last week to cut taxes significantly, sparking a wave of panic in the markets and in the UK triggered devaluation of the pound.
Less than a month after taking power, however, Truss insisted the announced plan will allow economic growth to return to Britain, which is facing unprecedented inflation and risks of recession.
“I support the package that we have announced … but I recognize that we should have prepared the ground better,” the Prime Minister told the BBC as the Conservative Party holds its annual conference in Birmingham.
“We have a clear plan to move forward, to tackle both the energy crisis and inflation, but also to let the economy grow and get us on the right track for the long term,” he added.
Not only the opposition, but also public opinion and even conservative MPs especially those who supported the defeated Rishi Sunak in the dispute with Truss for party leadership were amazed at the tax cut proposals formulated by Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng. , at the presentation of the “mini budget”.
Market participants, fearing that the measures would result in a significant increase in the country’s debt, reacted, causing the pound to depreciate to its lowest level in history and causing interest rates on British bonds to rise.
“We will reduce the debt to a certain percentage of GDP in the medium term and I have a plan for that. But not acting would have been a mistake,” Truss added, without explaining how his government would proceed.
After just three weeks at Downing Street, Britons find Liz Truss unpopular: 51 percent of Britons think she should resign, according to a YouGov poll. And she is a long way from unanimity within the Conservative Party, where her budgetary policies have drawn much criticism.