Kwarteng had assured on Thursday that “he was not going anywhere” despite the turmoil caused in the financial markets by the controversial economic plans of the Government
The British finance minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, has left his post, the BBC and the Sky News channel reported this Friday, while the increasingly questioned prime minister Liz Truss tries to save his position.
Kwarteng, who had assured on Thursday that “he was not going anywhere” despite the turmoil caused in financial markets by the government’s controversial economic plans, “is no longer finance minister,” the BBC reported. In a very volatile market, the British pound tumbled against the dollar after these reports.
Political instability weighed on the British currency, which lost 1.10% to $1.1199 and 0.57% against the euro to 86.83 pence, a day after soaring on speculation about possible changes in controversial British tax policy.
Kwarteng was in Washington to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, but this Friday morning it was learned that he was returning to London a day earlier than planned.
As a sign of great media expectation, the British news channels broadcast live the landing of the British Airways plane in which it arrived at London’s Heathrow airport. Shortly after it was announced that Truss will offer a press conference in the afternoon.
The Conservative Prime Minister, whose government appears to be on the brink of implosion, will speak in a particularly tense context. According to the British press, some members of her own party are already trying to remove her, given the disastrous polls that predict a crushing defeat for the Conservatives in the upcoming legislative elections.
These are not scheduled until January 2025 at the latest, but the political and economic storm caused by the controversial tax cuts decided by Kwarteng and Truss seem to make it impossible for the conservative leader to remain in power until then.
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