Business News of Thursday, 20 October 2022

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns amid economic turmoil, tax policies

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss UK Prime Minister Liz Truss

UK Prime Minister, Liz Truss has resigned from office, the BBC has reported. The development comes almost a week after Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng was relieved from his post amid fallouts from the mini-budget presented before the UK parliament. The budget which has since sparked financial turmoil in the markets also caused a revolt among Conservative lawmakers in the UK. Truss' resignation comes after just 45 days in office, making her the shortest-serving PM in British history. Speaking at a press conference at No 10 Downing Street on Thursday afternoon, Truss said she came into office at a time of “great economic and international instability”. “I recognise…given the situation I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party,” she noted. The PM's administration was engulfed in turmoil after investors and markets protested some tax cuts and policies in the budget revealed by Kwasi Kwarteng on September 23, 2022. Kwasi Kwarteng reportedly announced among other things, a £43 billion package of unfunded tax cuts in his “mini” Budget, a decision that is said to have caused panic in the financial markets, affecting the pound while increasing government borrowing costs and leading to a withdrawal of some offers for home purchase loans by lenders. After much pressure to reverse his fiscal plan which rattled markets and created an uproar among politicians, Kwarteng was sacked by Liz Truss. Ms. Truss and Mr. Kwarteng had argued that the tax-cutting measures will promote economic growth among other things. Watch the latest episode of BizTech below: