Breaking: Kwasi Kwarteng out as UK’s chancellor, served only 39days in office

British born Ghanaian, Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng has be ousted as UK’s Finance Minister, otherwise known as UK Chancellor of the Exchequer.

BBC news report, he is no longer the chancellor few minutes ago.

The news comes amid speculation UK’s Prime Minister Lizz Truss will today announce a U-turn on parts of the mini-budget presented by the Chancellor some few weeks ago.

His dismissal makes him the shortest-serving chancellor in UK’s history serving for only 39days in office from the time of his appointment on September 6 to today, October 14.

BBC reported early today that the Chancellor had cut short his participation in the ongoing World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) Meetings in Washington D.C, for urgent talks in Downing Street, with a U-turn over the mini-budget he presented.

Mr Kwarteng last month presented a mini budget announcing among other things, 45% additional rate income tax band for those earning more than £150,000 will be scrapped entirely, 40% higher rate, charged on incomes above £50,271, will remain and a cut in the basic rate of income tax from 20% to 19% to April 2023.

However, the budget has been received with opposition receiving backlash across board amidst the ailing performance of the British pound.

The Guardian report Prof Alan Walker of University of Sheffield described the mini budget as a fiscal and moral outrage.

“Kwasi Kwarteng and Liz Truss’s mini-budget is a fiscal and moral outrage, because it ignores the extensive negative evidence from previous attempts to boost growth by giving handouts to the rich (Kwarteng accused of reckless mini-budget for the rich as pound plummets, 23 September). It is also a constitutional outrage. Apart from a very small group of relatively rich people, no one voted for this radical policy change. Hopefully the British public will recognise this as a reckless gamble aimed at bolstering Truss’s election prospects. Recent history shows, however, that the public cannot necessarily be relied upon to make wise political decisions, so our outrage must be transformed into practical action to persuade voters that there is a viable, socially just alternative to this morally bankrupt government”.

“Let’s not get too envious of the very wealthy who were so cosseted in Friday’s fiscal event. The reaction of the stock market was a 2% loss on the day (Pound falls below $1.09 for first time since 1985 following mini-budget, 23 September). Most of the rich will have some of their millions invested in stocks and shares. So they lost £20,000 of each million. I wonder how grateful they are for the chancellor’s reckless gamble?” one Howard Fielding wrote.

Kwasi Kwarteng appointed UK’s Finance Minister

Mr Kwasi Kwarteng was appointed by UK’s Prime Minister Liz Truss on  6 September 2022 as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The financial analyst was the first black person to hold the position.

Prior to his appointment, he was the Secretary of State at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and previously served as Minister of State of the same department among many other roles.

Source: GhanaPlus.com