UK: Liz Truss admits "short-term disruption" to her policies

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Liz Truss: "I will do things differently"

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DANIEL LEAL / AFP

Liz Truss has not had a good start as British Prime Minister.

The pound has recently come under increasing pressure, and yields on government bonds have risen sharply.

Apparently only the English central bank is preventing a financial collapse – and approval for the new government also dropped dramatically.

In a guest post, Truss has now admitted that her policy caused "short-term disruptions".

“I'll do things differently.

This includes difficult decisions and short-term disruptions,” wrote the conservative politician in the British tabloid The Sun.

The British economy has been slowed down by high taxes for too long.

About a week ago, Truss' finance minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, announced significant tax cuts that would primarily benefit the rich.

However, these are not counter-financed, so that the state has to take on enormous debts.

As a result, the pound fell to its lowest level in almost 40 years, and yields on long-dated British government bonds rose significantly.

In order to stabilize the market, the Bank of England now wants to buy government bonds with long maturities – without a cap.

"Not everyone is happy with what we are doing, but I want to reassure the public that the government has a clear plan of what is right for the country," Truss wrote.

“None of this will happen overnight, but it's the right thing to do.

We'll make it."

Finance Minister Kwarteng also defended his policy in a guest article: "Without a doubt, this was an expensive intervention, but what choice did we have?" he wrote in the "Telegraph".

In a television interview, the minister had previously denied that the tax breaks would particularly benefit top earners.

Truss and Kwarteng reject a U-turn in their plan.

However, their course has not been well received by the electorate: According to a recent survey, the opposition Labor Party currently has a historically large lead over the Conservatives.

sak/dpa