Kwasi Kwarteng has been appointed chancellor in Liz Truss’s Cabinet, having enthusiastically defended her tax-cutting proposals during her successful Conservative leadership campaign.
The prime minister's office tweeted: “The Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP @KwasiKwarteng has been appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer @HMTreasury.”
Ms Truss was on Tuesday sworn in as prime minister of Britain when she met with Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral in Scotland, a day after she was declared the winner of the Tory leadership contest, beating her rival Rishi Sunak.
The Tory hardliner secured 81,326 votes from Conservative Party members, while Mr Sunak received 60,399 votes.
Ms Truss travelled to Aberdeenshire early on Tuesday where the monarch, 96, asked her to form a new government.
Who is Kwasi Kwarteng?
Born in east London to a barrister mother and economist father who emigrated from Ghana, Mr Kwarteng was an only child.
He attended the famed Eton College in Berkshire, the elite school known for churning out Conservative MPs and prime ministers such as Mr Johnson and David Cameron.
Going on to read classics and history at the University of Cambridge, he graduated with a first in both, before heading across the Atlantic to study at Harvard in the US. Upon his return to the UK, he earned a doctorate in economic history from Cambridge.
Mr Kwarteng worked as a financial analyst at investment banks including JP Morgan Chase and wrote a book titled Ghosts of Empire about the legacy of the British Empire before venturing into politics.
He was elected as MP for Spelthorne in Surrey in 2010 and campaigned for Brexit in the run-up to the 2016 EU referendum.
The MP was regarded as a rising star within the Tory party and in 2017 was appointed parliamentary private secretary to the chancellor at the time, Philip Hammond.
The following year, he was made Brexit secretary and in 2019 supported Mr Johnson in the Conservative leadership race.
When Mr Johnson entered No. 10, he rewarded Mr Kwarteng for his loyalty by making him an energy minister.
In 2021, Mr Kwarteng was promoted to business secretary, making him the first black secretary of state.
Commitment to 'lean state'
Amid rising speculation that Ms Truss has favoured Mr Kwarteng for the job, he used an op-ed in The Financial Times to say the next government will behave in a “fiscally responsible” way.
He attempted to back up Ms Truss’s tax-cutting strategy, which her rival Mr Sunak warned would exacerbate Britain’s economic woes.
Mr Kwarteng said there would be “some fiscal loosening” in a Truss administration to help households through the winter, stressing that it is the “right thing” to do.
He said the UK does not need “excessive fiscal tightening”, pointing to the country’s ratio of debt to gross domestic product compared with other major economies.
“The OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] has said that the current government policy is contractionary, which will only send us into a negative spiral when the aim should be to do the opposite,” Mr Kwarteng wrote.
“But I want to provide reassurance that this will be done in a fiscally responsible way.
“Liz is committed to a lean state and, as the immediate shock subsides, we will work to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio over time.”
Mr Kwarteng offered a vision for how he would operate the Treasury, as he said the next administration would be “decisive and do things differently”.
“That means focusing on how we unlock investment and growth, rather than how we tax and spend. It is about growing the size of the UK economy, not burying our heads in a redistributive fight over what is left,” he said.
His comments directly echoed those of Ms Truss on Sunday when she insisted that her plan to reverse the rise in national insurance is “fair”, despite it directly benefiting higher earners.
She told the BBC “growing the economy benefits everybody” and it is “wrong” to look at everything through the “lens of redistribution”.
Rejection of 'identity politics'
In an article for trueafrica.co in 2016, Mr Kwarteng explained why he bridles at the idea he should be expected to speak out about “black” issues.
He said MPs from ethnic minorities were expected to constantly “engage with ‘black’ issues, like knife crime in London”, while ignoring the positives about such communities.
Mr Kwarteng expressed disappointment that “the incredible appetite for entrepreneurship found among parts of the African community in Britain” was less talked about.
“It’s as if being from a particular background gives a politician a God-given right to speak on behalf of every single person from that background,” he wrote.
“This is the heart of identity politics, which has dominated the left for a couple of decades.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
