Central Bank Digital Currency

Lord Balfe Excerpts

Tuesday 13th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My Lords, I reassure the noble Lord that the Government recognise that cash remains important to millions of people across the UK and have committed to legislating to protect access to cash in this country.

[Lord Balfe (Con)]

My Lords, while I can understand that a CBDC will help business if it can be got off the ground, can the Government assure us that the status and backing of this currency will be as firm as the real currency that we currently enjoy?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

I can absolutely reassure my noble friend on that point. A central bank digital currency would need to be a risk-free currency backed by the central bank, and it would need to coexist with and complement existing forms of money.