British Prime Minister Liz Truss has dismissed her chancellor in advance of an expected announcement on changes to an economic package that triggered turmoil in financial markets.
Kwasi Kwarteng confirmed that he was asked to “step aside” as chancellor on Friday.
“You have asked me to stand aside as your Chancellor (of the Exchequer). I have accepted,” he wrote in a letter to Truss, which was published on his Twitter account.
Kwarteng’s departure comes after a month in the job — and three weeks after he announced a tax-cutting “mini budget” that sent the pound plunging to record lows against the US dollar.
The response from markets was so ferocious that the Bank of England intervened to prevent pension funds from being caught up in the chaos, as borrowing and mortgage costs surged.
Truss, in power for only 37 days, will hold a news conference later on Friday. She is under intense pressure to scrap some of the 43 billion pounds ($48bn) in unfunded tax cuts.
In his departure letter, Kwarteng defended the government’s economic plan, saying the country faces an “incredibly difficult” situation and “following the status quo was not an option”.
“As I have said many times in the past weeks, following the status quo was simply not an option,” he wrote.
“For too long this country has been dogged by low growth rates and high taxation – that must still change if this country is to succeed.”
Kwarteng is the United Kingdom’s shortest-serving chancellor since 1970, and his successor will be the fourth finance minister in as many months in Britain, where millions are facing a cost of living crisis.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Hunt, the former health and foreign secretary, is appointed chancellor after Kwasi Kwarteng is sacked.
Kwarteng met PM Liz Truss at Downing Street a little earlier, after cutting short a US visit and flying back to London
