Recommendation 1

There are some potential benefits to the UK economy from a digital pound. A digital pound could help support innovation in domestic payments, while guarding against some of the risks posed by new forms of private digital money by maintaining public access to a form of central bank money. Innovation brought about by a digital pound could also support the UK’s international competitiveness in payments (and related) technologies, particularly if it is amongst the first major central banks to issue a retail CBDC. The extent of these benefits is unclear, however. Nor is it yet clear that a digital pound is the only (or best) means of achieving them. (Paragraph 29) Risks and challenges from a digital