Prime Minister delays financial statement 

The statement was originally set to be announced on October 31st. The pound has risen against the dollar in the aftermath of the announcement of the delay.

The plan was previously announced by Kwasi Kwarteng, predecessor to the current Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. Kwarteng announced this as an effort to calm the market turmoil caused by his and former Prime Minister Liz Truss’ tax-cutting mini-budget. 

The statement will come with a full projection from the office of budgetary responsibility (OBR).

Sunak appointed his cabinet on Tuesday, keeping Hunt is in role as Chancellor, having originally been appointed by Truss. 

This delay means that the Bank of England MPC (monetary policy committee) will meet on November 3rd without being aware of the contents of the Prime Minister’s fiscal statement. The MPC are expected to vote to raise interest rates when they meet next month. The current Bank of England interest rate is sitting at 2.25% currently. 

Speaking to the BBC, Hunt stated that his top priority was: "economic stability and restoring confidence that the United Kingdom is a country that pays its way".