Recommendation 12

Building the infrastructure needed for a digital pound would also likely be very expensive, and the eventual decision on whether to launch a digital pound will need to be subject to a rigorous cost-benefit analysis. The Bank of England and Treasury must approach this analysis from a neutral stance—the launch of a digital pound must not be viewed as an inevitable consequence of investing in further detailed design work. The policy question must remain ‘why do it’ rather than becoming one of ‘why not do it’. (Paragraph 60) The digital pound: still a solution in search of a problem? 19