Britain's Liz Truss to hold talks with budget watchdog as the pound stabilizes

LONDON — British Prime Minister Liz Truss and her Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng are set to meet the U.K.'s independent monetary watchdog for talks on Friday.

The Office for Budget Responsibility, which produces financial forecasts for the U.K. economy, has reportedly been asked to write a draft report for Oct. 7 which will be handed to Kwarteng.

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The talks follow a turbulent week for U.K. markets and the economy, after Kwarteng laid out a "mini-budget" on Sept. 23, with the pound plummeting to a record low, the Bank of England intervening as gilt yields skyrocketed and swaths of mortgage deals being pulled as banks feared rates would become unaffordable.

Sterling has now recovered to a pre-mini-budget level, trading around $1.1118 early Friday morning.

The OBR had prepared a general economic forecast ahead of the mini-budget on Sept. 23, but the U.K. Treasury opted not to publish it, according to the BBC.

Kwarteng said a full forecast would be published "before the end of the year" in his announcement to fellow lawmakers, and a full budget statement is now expected Nov. 23.

The IMF has since given a damning verdict of the measures laid out in the mini-budget, saying they will "likely increase inequality" and that the U.K. government should "consider ways to provide support that is more targeted and re-evaluate the tax measures, especially those that benefit high income earners."

A growing number of economists and investors have also slated the plans, including the founder of Bridgewater, one of the world's largest hedge funds, Ray Dalio, who said the proposed measures suggest government "incompetence."