UK's Rishi Sunak delays plan to plug Britain's budget

Britain's new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday delayed the announcement of a keenly awaited plan for repairing the country's public finances until Nov. 17, two-and-a-half weeks later than previously planned.

The postponement, Sunak's first policy decision since taking over from Liz Truss on Tuesday, briefly raised British borrowing costs in financial markets but there was no repeat of the panic bond selling caused by Truss's September tax-cutting plan. Sunak takes on an economy facing recession at a time when the Bank of England is raising interest rates to tame double-digit inflation. Low growth and rising borrowing costs have worsened the strain on already-stretched public finances.