Bank of England Governor: Will continue to provide cash and is building a retail CBDC for innovation

Odaily Planet News According to Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England (BOE), due to concerns that the Digital Money (CBDC) Britcoin issued by the Central Bank of the United Kingdom will replace cash, evidence shows that people do want cash, so we will continue to provide it. Bailey's remarks reiterated what Sarah Breeden, a senior official at the Bank of England, said during last year's finance committee hearing. She said: "We will ensure that cash is available as long as there is demand. We will ensure that cash infrastructure in the financial system exists - both cash and Digital Money are options." Since the idea of CBDC was first proposed a few years ago, there have been divergent views among legislators and citizens about its pros and cons. Supporters of Britcoin believe it has the ability to drop costs and risks. However, opponents are concerned that it may empower the government to monitor people's spending and replace cash. The Central Bank of the United Kingdom started designing the digital version of the pound in January this year. However, the Central Bank of the United Kingdom has not yet decided whether to actually launch it. Bailey said that he supports the Central Bank's wholesale CBDC issuance, but is cautious about retail CBDC issuance. He added that in terms of retail CBDC, "it is difficult to see Central Bank currency play an anchoring role". However, wholesale CBDCs can play a "special role" for Central Bank currency in wholesale high-value payments and settlement systems. Bailey further added that the Central Bank of England is in the process of establishing a retail CBDC for innovation. He believes that CBDC innovation should be open to the private sector, ensuring that commercial banks modernize their digital payment systems. He also noted that banks lack incentives to improve efficiency in certain areas, such as cross-border payments, which "inhibits innovation." As a result, "modernization is still slow in the cross-border payments space," Bailey said, adding that better digital systems are needed, "and there is no good reason to make arbitrary decisions on this issue." (Bloomberg)