New British finance minister acknowledges “mistakes” in Truss economic management

The new UK Finance Minister, Jeremy Hunt, has acknowledged that the Government made several “mistakes” in the management of the tax reform that the Prime Minister, Liz Truss, has had to correct on two occasions and that has cost the post of the previous economic responsible, Kwai Kwarteng.

Hunt, who took over the post from Kwarteng on Friday, acknowledged Saturday in interviews with BBC and Sky News that “there were two mistakes.” He believes that the Executive “was wrong” to reduce from 45 to 40 percent the income tax for the big fortunes and also to announce these plans without the prior endorsement of the Office for Budget Responsibility.

The collapse of the markets and of the pound led Truss to cancel at first the tax cut for annual incomes of more than 150,000 pounds and, on Friday, to maintain the increase in corporate tax — from 19 to 25 percent — as had been agreed by the previous government, headed by Boris Johnson.

“Taxes are not going to go down as much as people expected and some taxes will have to go up,” Hunt has admitted, just a day after Truss publicly recalled that he ran in the last Conservative primaries with a clear commitment to “fiscal discipline” that contemplated, among other issues, tax cuts.

Hunt, who wants to be “completely honest with the country,” has admitted that “very difficult decisions” lie ahead.