(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. government’s coronavirus aid program for self-employed people received more than 340 million pounds ($416 million) of claims in its first morning of operation.
Some 110,000 people had applied for the cash grants by noon on Wednesday, Jim Harra, chief executive officer of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the U.K. tax authority, told Sky News in an interview.
“They are all eligible claimants” who should receive payments by May 25, he told the broadcaster.
The program, announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak in March, allows self-employed workers to claim a one-time grant equivalent to 80% of their average monthly profit for three months.
