Forex

The United Kingdom's currency is the pound sterling. The UK has no plans to replace Sterling with the euro in the foreseeable future.

The UK negotiated an opt-out from the part of the Maastricht Treaty that required it to adopt the common currency. The current Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, ruled out membership in 2007, saying that the decision not to join had been right for Britain and for Europe.^[1] The British government under Brown has committed itself to a triple-approval procedure before joining theEurozone, involving approval by the Cabinet, Parliament, and the electorate in a referendum.

The government of former Prime Minister Tony Blair declared that "five economic tests" must be passed before the government could recommend the UK joining the euro and promised to hold a referendum on membership if those five economic tests were met. The UK would also have to meet the EU'seconomic convergence criteria (Maastricht criteria), before being allowed to adopt the euro. Currently, the UK's annual government deficit to the GDP is above the defined threshold.