UK Chancellor Sunak could increase fuel duty by 5p to help pay for coronavirus crisis – The Sun

Early Tuesday morning in Asia, The Sun came out with the news suggesting the 5p increase in the fuel duty by the UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak in his November month budget proposal.

Key quotes

He is considering ending a ten-year freeze on the tax in his autumn ­Budget to help pay for Covid-19.

The move would automatically add 2p a liter at the pumps, as the price would go up in line with inflation. But a Treasury source says it has plans for an extra 3p on top.

Fed-up motorists urged the Chancellor to scrap plans for the tax hike.

Critics said it would be “madness” to raise the cost of driving while the Government tries to coax people back to the office. 

A Treasury source said officials were also told to look at the impact of a double-digit increase as part of more extreme measures that could be used to raise funds. But a 5p hike was put in the “realistic” category of options.

FX implications

Despite being a price-negative factor for the GBP/USD pair, the news failed to witness any major market reaction considering the lack of activity of the Cable traders amid the early Asian session. That said, the quote seesaws around 1.3370 by the press time.