The British pound saw a jump of 0.62 percent to stand at 1.2545 against the U.S. dollar following comments from European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Thursday.
According to CNBC, Juncker said he believes the two sides "can have a deal." In an interview with Sky News, the Commission chief said he is "doing everything" to secure a Brexit deal because he believes a no-deal scenario would bring chaos for at least 12 months.
Juncker further revealed that he met with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The latter submitted ideas for a potential new Brexit deal but so far, no details about the outline have been unveiled to the public.
A "rather positive" meeting was held between the two leaders, Juncker said. He went on to reiterate that the EU is ready in case a no-deal scenario takes place even if he is "not so sure" the U.K. is well-prepared for it.
Brexit is bound to happen on October 31 but British lawmakers have yet to present a proposal that the European Union (EU) will be interested in. The previous proposal delivered by former U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May was rejected thrice by her own government.
Johnson has hinted that he will push for the U.K. to exit the EU come to the end of October even if a deal is not created. However, the Commission has been pressuring Britain to present a deal so business and ties with the EU will not be cut off.
Meanwhile, Irish Taoiseach (the equivalent of Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar, said he is looking to secure a deal with Johnson during the United Nations General Assembly scheduled next week in New York, BBC reported.
Despite Varadkar's comments, his deputy, Simon Coveney, argued that there was still a huge difference in terms of the aspects of the Brexit deal that Ireland and the EU wanted from the British government.
Johnson has insisted that he is confident his government can prevent a hard border in Northern Ireland even if the U.K. wants to leave in such a way that it won't be controlled by the EU regarding trade and other regulations.
Finnish Prime Minister, Antii Rinne, on the other hand, said Johnson only has 12 days left to present proposals for a potential Brexit deal. Rinne said the timeline was agreed on by French President Emmanuel Macron.
So far, Britain has received criticism for seemingly dodging official plans to be put into writing. Johnson submitted proposals to the Commission but he refuses to present the details in public.
