Flashback: Incoming UK PM Rishi Sunak Proposes a Central Bank Digital Currency

EXCERPT:

SUNAK: “Today I am proud to say that under the U.K.’s presidency, the group of the world’s seven most advanced economies — the G7 — is launching a set of public policy principles for retail Central Bank Digital Currencies, CBDCs. Central Bank Digital Currencies could be a digital version of money, a bit like a digital banknote that could be used alongside physical notes and coins. Unlike most of the digital money people use daily today, it would be issued directly by a central bank, like the Bank of England in the U.K., and governments and central banks across the world are working together looking into what having a digital currency might mean in practice. This includes issues that people care about, such as ensuring users’ money would be safe and secure, that it could work with other ways to pay, would be energy efficient and available to everyone. A potential CBDC could offer businesses and consumers new ways to pay in the future. It’s all part of the wider story of digital innovation that has delivered benefits to millions around the world and in the U.K.. The decision on whether to launch a Central Bank Digital Currency is for each country to make, and no G7 jurisdiction has yet made that choice.”