By Stan Higgins,
The Bank of England has released new research suggesting that a central bank-issued digital currency could lead to an increase in gross domestic product.
The conclusions were drawn from a working paper published today that examined how a central bank-backed digital currency (referred to as a CBDC in the paper) could yield macroeconomic benefits, while providing banking regulators a clearer picture of the financial system.
That said, the authors state that there are potential issues inherent in the concept and that “there remains a clear concern” about the risks in transitioning to a “different monetary and financial regime”.
These concepts were explored several months ago in a speech by Ben Broadbent, the Bank of England’s deputy governor for monetary policy, who said in March that while such a system could provide greater visibility for regulators, UK banks could see an outflow of deposits.
Broadbent is one of several witnesses set to appear tomorrow before a committee of the House of Lords, the upper chamber of the UK parliament.