Liz Truss admitted that the mini-budget delivered by her government last week caused disruption after it was followed by a series of economic shocks, including the pound falling to an all-time low against the dollar.
The prime minister said that the government had a clear plan and acknowledged that the policies may be unpopular.
A week ago, Kwasi Kwarteng announced a cut in income tax from 45 p to 40 p in the pound for the highest earners. Other taxpayers will get money from a U-turn in national insurance if they get a 1 p cut in income tax. The chancellor said they would help to increase growth.
The package, which was the biggest tax cut in 50 years, had a strong reaction from the market. The Bank of England spent billions of pounds buying government debt to shore up pensions schemes. It has also been shown that interest rates are like to rise, which has resulted in jumps in mortgage rates and lenders pulling many deals.
In the Sun, Truss didn't address the changes to the 45 p rate, or the scrapping of bankers bonuses, which was also included in Kwarteng's announcements. She said that for too long we have been stuck in debating how to divide up the economic pie rather than grow the pie so everyone has a bigger slice.
The status quo is not working. We have been held back by low growth and high taxes for too long. We need to get things done in this country more quickly.
I am going to do things differently. It involves difficult decisions and involves disruption in the short term.
The government has a clear plan that I believe is right for the country and I want to assure the public that they are not everyone will like what we are doing, but I want to make sure that we have a clear plan. She insisted she had an iron grip on the UK's finances and resisted calls to reverse the tax cuts.
She said that she is determined to take a new course to unleash Britain's potential, to grow our economy and to deliver a better future for everyone.
It is the right thing to do and none of this will happen overnight. She told broadcasters earlier on Friday: I know there has been disruption but it is really important that we were able to get help to families as soon as possible.
I think it is important to get Britain s economy back on track, keep taxes low, and encourage investment into our country and get through these difficult times. Kwarteng said that the government must stick to the plan, which cuts taxes boosts growth. He wrote in the Telegraph that reforming the economy to increase the amount of goods and services we produce reduces costs.
Some measures that we announced last week won't be universally popular. We had to do something different. He said that new policies would be announced on November 23 on how minsters will reduce public debt and restore fiscal credibility, along with a forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility. The prediction will be sent to the government on October 7 but it will take six weeks before it is made public.
Simon Clarke, the chief secretary to the Treasury, indicated there could be big cuts to welfare spending, telling the Times: My big concern in politics is that Western Europe is just living in a fool's paradise, while still enjoying a very large welfare state, and persists in thinking that the two are somehow compatible over the medium to long term.