Britcoin: Future of a digital pound 'more likely than not', Bank of England official says

Bank of England deputy governor Sir Jon Cunliffe told the Treasury Committee creating a central bank digital currency is less about need and more about creating new possibilities.

New technologies could help to open up a "new frontier" for payments and the way in which money is used, a Bank of England boss has told MPs.

Work on a digital pound, regulated by the Bank of England, was delayed by the "pressure of other business" in September and October last year, the deputy governor Sir Jon Cunliffe told a Treasury Committee.

There "just wasn't the time" to devote to the Bank's digital currency consultation paper in the autumn months due to the "pressure of other business," Sir Jon said.

In late September, in the wake of the Liz Truss September mini-budget, the Bank launched an unprecedented market intervention to prevent a collapse of pension funds as uncertainty gripped the market and the pound sank to a record low.

Sir Jon was asked about delays in producing a consultation paper on a so-called Britcoin by MPs on the Treasury Committee.

The delays were not as a result of a difference of opinion on policy between the Bank and the Treasury, he said. Nor did the post-mini budget delay bring the UK behind other countries in developing digital currencies.

"I don't think we're behind other advanced economies in where we are on this," he said.

Whether or not a central bank digital currency is created in the UK is still not certain, although Sir Jon said "it's more likely than not".

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