WASHINGTON (Reuters) -British finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng said he was focused on delivering on his “mini-budget” and economic growth after media reported the government was considering reversing parts of his plan which has caused havoc in financial markets.
“Our position hasn’t changed. I will come up with the medium-term fiscal plan on the 31st of October, as I said earlier in the week, and there will be more detail then,” Kwarteng told BBC television on Thursday on the sidelines of a meeting of finance leaders at the International Monetary Fund.
“My total focus… is on delivering on the mini-budget and making sure that we get growth back into our economy.”
Asked repeatedly about the reports of a possible U-turn on his plan to freeze corporation tax – rather than allow it to increase as planned by his predecessor Rishi Sunak – Kwarteng repeated that he was focused on his growth plan.
Sky News and other media said earlier on Thursday that Prime Minister Liz Truss was considering a possible U-turn on the plan not to raise corporation tax. Truss’s office said there was no change in the plan.
After those reports, the pound jumped against the U.S. dollar and British government bond prices recovered some of the steep losses incurred since Kwarteng’s “mini-budget” announcement on Sept. 23.
The BBC asked Kwarteng if he would be finance minister and Truss would still be prime minister this time next month. Kwarteng replied: “Absolutely, 100%. I’m not going anywhere.”
(Writing by William SchombergEditing by Kate Holton)
