(Adds more comment, EU plans for digital euro)
By Huw Jones
LONDON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Britons would be limited to
20,000 digital pounds ($24,000) each if the country goes ahead
with a digital currency, Bank of England Deputy Governor Jon
Cunliffe said on Tuesday.
Britain's government said on Monday that it and the BoE were
pressing on with work on a possible digital pound that was
likely to enter circulation in the second half of this decade
and be held in a "wallet" provided by banks, although no final
decision has been made.
"We propose a limit of between 10,000 pounds and 20,000
pounds per individual as the appropriate balance between
managing risks and supporting wide usability of the digital
pound," Cunliffe said in a speech.
A limit of 10,000 pounds would mean that three quarters of
people could receive their pay in digital pounds as well as
holding pre-existing balances in the same account, while a
20,000 pound limit would allow almost everyone to use digital
pounds for day-to-day transactions, Cunliffe said.
Money above the cap would be "swept" into a customer's
commercial bank account given that a digital pound would not be
a means for storing wealth, he told members of UK Finance, a
banking industry body.
"At the other end, you could say I need a little wallet full
of internet cash to buy things on Amazon," Cunliffe added.
Central banks across the world are studying digital
currencies, with the European Union due to publish a draft law
in May setting out a legal framework for a potential digital
euro.
The law would need to be approved by EU states and the
European Parliament, although it will be the European Central
Bank that decides this autumn on whether to proceed with a
digital euro.
Burkhard Balz, executive board member of Germany's
Bundesbank, told a conference on Tuesday that a key aspect to be
decided is whether a digital euro would have legal tender
status, meaning it could be used to settle a debt in court.
Cunliffe said a digital pound would have the same legal
status as cash.
($1 = 0.8332 pounds)
(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by David Milliken and
Alexander Smith)
Messaging: huw.jones.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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