Kwarteng to bring forward publication of his fiscal plan

UK Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng will delay the publication of his medium-term fiscal plan to reduce public debt until later this month, the Financial Times and a government source said on Monday.

Earlier, Kwarteng said he was abandoning a plan to scrap the top rate of income tax, which caused uproar, including among some lawmakers within his own Conservative Party, and helped trigger turmoil in financial markets. He had previously said he would make his fiscal statement on November 23, but in a speech to the ruling Conservative Party conference, he said he would publish "shortly" more details of his plans to reduce debt, alongside full forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), Britain's independent fiscal watchdog. "The OBR can move faster, so can we," a government source told Reuters. Commenting on the Chancellor's plan to bring forward the publication of the fiscal plan, Treasury Committee Chairman Mel Stride said the move would "calm markets" and help "reduce upward pressure on interest rates". "In particular, publishing the forecast before the MPC meeting on November 3 could help reassure our rate-setters that they can go for a smaller base rate hike than would otherwise be the case," Stride said on Monday, referring to the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). Kwarteng is expected to accelerate his announcement later this month and his statement will lay out a five-year plan to put debt on a downward path, including a tightening of public spending, the FT said without citing sources. Source: investing.com Follow Global Economic Developments on Social Media! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Facebook account! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Instagram account! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Twitter account!