More than 400,000 furlough claims have been submitted by businesses for over 3m workers under the UK Government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
The programme funds 80% of workers' wages, up to £2,500 a month, if they are put on leave.
It was launched on Monday and has been inundated with claims since then - which amount to nearly £4bn in funding.
A HMRC spokeswoman this evening said: "On 20 April, we launched the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Between launch and midnight on 22 April we have received:
- 435,000 claims
- Covering 3.2m employees
- Amounting to £3.75bn
They are not currently offering a breakdown of the figures on a nation or region basis but these will be released in the coming days.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said employers should receive the money within six working days of making an application.
The chancellor said the scheme would help people who could have lost their jobs if they had not been furloughed.
The Office for Budget Responsibility has suggested 8m furloughed workers would end up on the scheme with hopes the current lower figure could mean the economy is proving more resilient than expected.
But more applications are expected on the coming days and there have been reports that some employers were finding the scheme difficult to navigate.
