UK Chancellor Kwarteng resigns amid mini-budget chaos

LONDON - Kwasi Kwarteng, chancellor of the exchequer of the United Kingdom (UK), resigned on Friday after his mini-budget was blamed for causing economic turmoil.

"You have asked me to stand aside as your Chancellor. I have accepted," Kwarteng said in his resignation to Prime Minister Liz Truss posted on Twitter.

Kwarteng's time in office -- 38 days -- made him one of the shortest-serving UK chancellors in history.

The mini-budget he presented last month, which contained controversial debt-funded tax cuts, has been blamed for the economic turmoil which saw the British pound plunge to a 37-year low against the US dollar while the cost of government borrowing and mortgage rates surge.

"As I have said many times in the past weeks, following the status quo was simply not an option. For too long this country has been dogged by low growth rates and high taxation -- that must still change if this country is to succeed," he said in his resignation.