Crisis of confidence was years in the making

Tighter policy: A woman walks past the BoE in London. Money market traders are now betting on at least a 150 basis-point rise in interest rates by the central bank. — Reuters

LONDON: Britain is in a self-inflicted financial crisis that threatens to accelerate the economy’s dive into recession – and the country’s new prime minister is coming under intense pressure to blink.

In the week since the government unveiled the biggest tax cuts since 1972 with scant detail of how they will be financed, the pound has crashed to its lowest-ever level against the dollar.