UK finance minister Hunt vows to win back financial market trust

New finance minister Jeremy Hunt has vowed to restore Britain's economic credibility by accounting for every penny of the government's tax and spending plans, while insisting that his boss, Prime Minister Liz Truss, remain in overall charge.

Truss appointed Hunt as the finance minister on Friday in a bid to salvage her leadership amid waning confidence in her ability to lead the country, both within her own Conservative Party and in international financial markets. Investors have sold British government bonds heavily since September 23, when Hunt's predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng announced a series of gratuitous tax cuts without publishing a series of independent economic forecasts. The knock-on effects have forced the Bank of England to intervene urgently to protect pension funds and increased mortgage costs, adding to the pressure on Britons' finances. "No government can control the markets. No Chancellor should try to do that," Hunt said in an interview broadcast on BBC television on Sunday. "There is only one thing we can do, and I will do it, and that is to show the markets, the world and even the people watching our country that we can properly account for every penny of our tax and spending plans." The UK economy is at risk of slipping into recession at a time when the Bank of England is raising interest rates to contain rising inflation. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said on Saturday that he thought a big increase in interest rates would be needed in early November. Truss, who won the Conservative Party leadership just a month ago by promising to cut taxes, fired Kwarteng on Friday and shelved key parts of the program they had agreed together. The chaos fueled discontent in the ruling party, which was already divided before Friday and lagging far behind the opposition Labor Party in opinion polls. Sunday's newspapers were full of reports that Truss would be replaced. Even US President Joe Biden criticized Truss's original economic plan as a mistake. "I think the idea of cutting taxes on the super-rich - whatever it is, I think - I don't agree with that policy, but that's for Great Britain to decide, not me," he said. 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!