Kwasi Kwarteng will accelerate the publication of his plan to cut Britain’s debt, as he attempts to reassure markets.
The chancellor is expected to publish his medium-term fiscal plan, accompanied by official forecasts, later this month. He previously insisted he would wait more than 50 days until 23 November.
The news comes after he was forced to make a humbling U-turn on a key part of his “mini-Budget”.
Kwarteng acknowledged the U-turn at the start of his 20-minute address to delegates at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham yesterday. He said: “It has been tough, but we need to focus on the job in hand. We need to move forward. No more distractions.”
He acknowledged that his 23 September fiscal statement had caused “a little turbulence”.
The speech, however, contained no new policy.
Sterling has recovered ground against the dollar after the government reversed its plan to cut the highest rate of income tax.
The pound hit $1.13 against the dollar yesterday, a rise of 1.5%, after the U-turn was confirmed by Kwarteng.
However, the chancellor’s mini-Budget has added around £1,500 to the average mortgage borrower’s annual bill in what analysts have dubbed the “Kwarteng premium”. The rate on a two-year fixed-rate deal rose by an entire percentage point between last Monday and yesterday to 5.75%, a post-financial crisis high.
