The UK finance ministry is expected to launch a public consultation on the attributes of a digital pound in the coming weeks.
However, Britain's financial services minister Andrew Griffith has stressed the importance of getting the currency's design done right rather than quickly.
"The consultation is going to say this is an if and not a when. We are not fully into the inevitability of doing this," Griffith told the UK parliament's Treasury Select Committee.
Over the last few years, China has pushed ahead with piloting a digital yuan and the European Central Bank is studying a digital euro, piling pressure on Britain to do the same and keep abreast of advances in financial technology.
Nonetheless, the use of the digital pound has the potential to raise many public policy issues.
"We have got to get them right. I would rather be right than be first," Griffith said. "It will be a long lead-time activity."
In...