UK’s Kwarteng brings forward budget plans to Oct. 31
LONDON (Reuters) -British finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng brought forward his medium-term fiscal plan and the publication of independent budget forecasts to Oct. 31, more than three weeks earlier than previously scheduled, the Treasury said on Monday.
The plan had been due on Nov. 23 to build on a “mini-budget” in September in which Kwarteng announced 45 billion pounds ($49.8 billion) of tax cuts. It triggered a rout in financial markets when he provided no details on how they would be funded.
The market turmoil heaped pressure on Kwarteng to act faster to set out how the government would pay for tax cuts, and what their long-term impact would be.
In a letter to parliament’s Treasury Select Committee, Kwarteng said the new date would allow the Office For Budget Responsibility (OBR) enough time to assess updates to official data and for a full forecast process to take place.
The new, earlier date will also allow the Bank of England to understand the government’s tax and spending plans before it announces its next interest rate decision on Nov. 3.
Kwarteng has previously said the OBR would not have had enough time to produce satisfactory forecasts for his Sept. 23 announcement, although the OBR has contradicted this.
Kwarteng also said on Monday the new date would allow time for the government’s Medium-Term Fiscal Plan to be finalised.
($1 = 0.9038 pounds)
(Reporting by Muvija M and William James; Editing by Kate Holton)
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