Sterling rose today to a 10-day high, boosted by a report in a German newspaper that the European Union could offer Britain a two-year transitional Brexit deal.
The pound had tumbled on Thursday after the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told reporters that talks around Britain’s divorce payment had hit an “impasse”.
Last week, the British currency suffered its worst week in a year against the dollar, after a more than 2 percent fall.
But after the report the pound rose to 1.3301 by this morning, up 0.3 percent on the day, its highest.
The paper reported on Thursday evening that Barnier wanted to offer Britain the chance to stay in the EU’s single market and customs union for a two-year transition if London agreed to settle its financial obligations with the bloc and sign a divorce agreement.
The German newspaper, citing EU diplomats, said Britain would also have to meet all the obligations of EU membership during the transition and Barnier was expected to make the proposal during a meeting of EU ambassadors later today.