[ZERO] It's remarkable to think that it was just 6 weeks ago when the UK revealed its biggest spending spree in decades - one which sparked a bond market crisis, a political shake up and the resignation of the now former PM Liz Truss. Fast forward to today when in a dramatic reversal, we learn that the UK is sinking into Greek-style austerity: the Telegraph reports that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and finance minister Jeremy Hunt plan to reveal a stealth tax raid on pensions later this month.The pension lifetime allowance is set to be frozen for two more years, with a rise in line with prices delayed from 2025 to 2027, the newspaper said.
The allowance level has risen with prices in the past, but Sunak - as finance minister last year - froze the allowance until 2025. The move was forecast to bring the Treasury close to a billion pounds over the period, Telegraph said. And with the UK set to remain in a recessionary stagflation, with near-double digit CPI for the foreseeable future, UK retirees' purchasing power will be drained faster than Biden can syphon away oil from the US SPR.
The Treasury is now planning to announce that the freeze will be extended until 2027, the end of the five-year period for which plans will be produced, the report said.
Sunak and Hunt, who need to fill a fiscal gap of nearly 50 billion pounds ($56.88 billion) during the Nov. 17 budget, have agreed to split the cost roughly equally between spending cuts and tax rises, according to the Telegraph.