The Bank of England and HM Treasury have announced the next steps in the development of a U.K. Central Bank Digital Currency. These include the following:

• A consultation is planned for 2022, setting out the case for a U.K. CBDC, evaluating the main issues and considering possible design features;
• If the outcome of the 2022 consultation is positive, a development phase would follow, which would involve a technical specification explaining the conceptual architecture for a CBDC and may involve testing the design of a CBDC; and
• The potential launch of a U.K. CBDC in the second half of the 2020s, if the development phase concludes that the case for a U.K. CBDC is made.

In April 2021, the BoE and HMT announced its new CBDC Taskforce, whose primary function is to oversee investigations into a U.K. CBDC. No decision has yet been made on whether to issue a U.K. CBDC.

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