UK PM Johnson and Chancellor Sunak divided over whether to extend state aid for the self-employed – The Sun

Early Friday morning in Asia, The Sun came out with the news suggesting that the UK Treasury and No10 are said to be divided over whether to extend state aid for the self-employed.

Key quotes

Their disagreements have been blamed for the delay in announcing whether the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will be continued in line with the five-month extension for furloughed workers.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has so far refused mounting calls to extend the scheme, which currently offers grants to self-employed workers of up to £7,500 to cover three months of lost income – covering March, April and May.

In contrast, the furlough scheme for employees has already been extended and covers eight months – ending in October.

This is despite Boris Johnson hailing the SEISS as giving “parity of support” to the self-employed compared with employees.

Self-employed workers have warned Mr. Sunak they need a decision within days because they face a “cliff-edge” on June 1 when the money dries up.

FX implications

The news failed to offer any major direction to the GBP/USD pair despite being a negative catalyst. That said, the Cable currently trades near 1.2225 while extending recoveries from 1.2212 in the last hour.