Kwasi Kwarteng is contending with massive market turmoil sparked by his tax-cutting mini-budget as a disastrous day for the pound saw Labour take its biggest poll lead over Tories for more than 20 years. The Treasury moved to settle the markets with the promise of a Budget next spring as sterling tumbled to its lowest level against the dollar for at least half a century on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England said it “will not hesitate” to raise interest rates to prop up the value of sterling. The pound fell by more than 4% to just 1.0327 dollars in early Asia trade, before regaining some ground to about 1.07 dollars on Monday evening. At the same time, the Office for Budget Responsibility will publish its updated forecasts for the current calendar amid widespread criticism that there was no update when Mr Kwarteng set out his “plan for growth” last week. At one point, it was thought that the Bank would be forced to step in with an emergency interest rate hike amid fears the pound could drop to parity with the dollar.