British Prime Minister Liz Truss admitted on Sunday that she “should have prepared the ground better” before announcing last week’s massive tax cuts that were wreaking havoc on financial markets. Despite the wave of criticism that followed the announcement of the measures and the turmoil in the markets, Truss continues to defend his administration’s plan.
“I continue to support the package we announced and I continue to say that we announced it quickly because we had to act, but I recognize that we should have prepared the ground better”Truss told the BBC on British television.
The interview coincides with the start of the Conservative Party’s annual congress, which will take place in Birmingham from today to Wednesday.
Elected leader of the ‘Tories’ in early September, Truss now faces militants and delegates angry over ‘mini-budget’ fallout September 23 on the financial markets, causing the value of the British pound to fall and government debt rates skyrocketing.
Investors reacted with suspicion to the package of tax cuts and an energy price freeze over the lack of economic projections and detailed plans to manage growing public debt.
Volatility led the Bank of England to identify: “real risks to UK financial stability” and to intervene in the debt marketto buy government bonds.
The situation raised the risk of a rise in interest rates that will impact home loans, exacerbating the crisis of rising cost of living for Britons, who are already worrying with inflation approaching 10%.
“I’m afraid there’s a problem with interest rates going up around the world and we have to deal with that. But I want to tell people that I understand your concerns about what happened last week.”said Truss, quoted by the Spanish agency EFE.
Truss stressed that the overall situation is “very difficult” and that “governments around the world are making difficult decisions”.
“This is a global problem,” said the conservative leader, alluding to the problems caused by the war in Ukraine and the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“What’s happening all over the world is interest rates are rising, so the Federal Reserve [dos Estados Unidos] they increased by 4%,” he said.
Truss also said that his supervisor “a very clear plan how to continue with the energy plan this winterbut also on how to deal with the problem of the economic slowdown”.
Source: DN
