UK's crunch budget plan postponed till Nov 17: PM's office

By AFP 

The UK's eagerly awaited budget plan has been postponed until November 17, the office of new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday.

"The chancellor updated the cabinet on the timing of the fiscal event. The prime minister and the chancellor agreed that the fiscal event would now take place on the 17th November," a readout of Sunak's first cabinet meeting said.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the short delay was justified in the circumstances.

"I'm willing to take decisions very quickly and I'm willing to make choices that are politically embarrassing if they're the right thing to do for the country," he told broadcasters.

"Now we have a new prime minister and the prospect of much longer-term stability for the economy in the country and in that context, a short two-and-a-half-week delay is the best way we will make sure that it is the right decisions we take," he said.

The government's much-anticipated medium-term fiscal plans had been due on October 31.

Hunt said the OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) fiscal watchdog also wanted "to make sure that their forecasts are the most accurate possible and there have been a lot of changes even in the last 48 hours".

The announcement came as Sunak got down to business Wednesday after weeks of political turmoil.

Ex-prime minister Liz Truss, who left office on Tuesday, caused financial markets to implode with an ill-conceived plan for tax cuts financed by extra borrowing.