UK Cautious on Digital Pound as Bailey Questions Need

The UK remains cautious about the consequences of launching a digital pound even as global counterparts accelerate their central bank digital currency initiatives.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey raised fresh doubts about the need for a digital pound. Speaking at a conference, Bailey said he was not yet persuaded that central banks should issue new forms of money for consumers. “I start with the presumption that there should be benefit here—it seems like a failure of imagination if we think otherwise,” said Bailey. “That said, I remain to be convinced that we need to create new forms of money—such as Central Bank Retail Digital Currency—to achieve this.”

The comments come as the UK central bank continues to evaluate the design of a retail-focused digital currency. Alongside the Treasury, it has not yet committed to a full rollout. While officials have said any digital pound would not replace cash or include programmable controls over user spending, the project has attracted scrutiny from lawmakers and privacy advocates. More than 50,000 responses were submitted to a public consultation on the digital pound. Concerns have also come from commercial banks, which warned that state-backed currencies could trigger deposit flight during periods of financial stress.

Bailey reaffirmed that work on a wholesale central bank digital currency for use between financial institutions is progressing. However, he indicated that consumer-facing issuance remains under review. In the same speech, Bailey questioned the broader structure of financial regulation, suggesting that over-regulating banks may have shifted risk toward non-bank financial institutions. “Whether we have over-protected the banking system via excessive regulation, and in so doing pushed more risk into non-banks which would be more safely housed in banks,” he said. “Put another way, have we increased overall financial stability risk by raising the bar too high in banks?,” Bailey said. “It’s a fair enough question, but intrinsically hard to answer.”

Other central banks have already advanced their digital currency programs. The European Central Bank is developing a digital euro prototype, and China has extended trials of its e-CNY across multiple provinces. Central banks are assessing how to address changes in payment behavior, the growing role of private tokenized assets, and operational questions about state-backed money. Bailey’s skepticism could delay any decision on consumer rollout, keeping the UK behind other jurisdictions already piloting or launching retail digital currencies. Potential applications for a retail digital pound include faster peer-to-peer payments, online retail transactions, and integration with emerging smart contract systems. However, no final decision has been made on its operational scope.