Le Week-End, a Mauritian newspaper, reported on Sunday that the two countries could announce a deal early this week after the UK agreed to the front-loading of payments. British officials said that while “a deal is there to be done, it’s not done yet”.

The UK has agreed to the Mauritian request for a front-loading payment of the lease compensation of 90 million pounds ($110 million) per year as a sweetener to the Chagos islands deal, the Week-End newspaper reported on Sunday.

Mauritius is in “no rush” to secure a Chagos Islands deal with the UK and is still pushing for more money, officials have told The Telegraph.

Mauritius is reportedly in “no rush” to secure a Chagos Island deal with the UK before Donald Trump takes office. Officials have told The Telegraph that the Mauritian government is pushing for more money,

The UK is considering front-loading its funding package for Mauritius as part of a sweetened deal ceding sovereignty of the Chagos islands, including a key UK-US military base, to the Indian Ocean nation.

The UK has offered to frontload payments to Mauritius in a bid to finalise the contentious Chagos Islands deal before Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20. Britain is offering to pay several years' worth of the £90million annual lease payments upfront for Diego Garcia,