The pound has fallen from a session high against the dollar on Friday after Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked as chancellor.
Nairametrics confirmed that UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has fired her finance minister, Kwasi Kwarteng amid strong rumors she is about to abandon a significant portion of his economic plan.
As word of Kwarteng’s dismissal spread, the value of the pound fell against the dollar by 1.15% to $1.12 at the time of writing this article.
The pound has continued to trend downwards after the currency pair hit a one-week high of 1.135 at 2.49 am.
What you should know
After only 38 days in the position, Kwarteng has become the UK’s second-shortest-serving chancellor on record, trailing only Iain Macleod, who passed away after a heart attack 30 days after taking the position in 1970.
- Kwasi Kwarteng had unveiled the biggest package of tax cuts in 50 years, as he hailed a “new era” for the UK economy. Income tax and stamp duty on home purchases were to be cut, while planned rises in business taxes have been scrapped.
- These prompted the Bank of England to warn of a serious risk to UK financial stability and announce three separate interventions to calm a bond market meltdown that put some UK pension funds on the brink of default.
- The pound has been under mounting pressure to reverse its mini-budget announced on 23 September, which has created havoc across financial markets. Nairametrics reported that the pound had fallen to a record low against the dollar as markets reacted to the UK’s biggest tax cuts in 50 years.
- Kwasi Kwarteng has scrapped the planned abolition of the 45p top rate income tax in a dramatic U-turn after the controversial move sparked market turmoil and backlash from within the Tory Party.
The PM is expected to reinstate a planned increase in corporation tax from April after she U-turned on the 45p top rate income tax.