Independent Scotland will use the pound sterling instead of the formal currency unit of the EU. Citing First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, her country is not going to abandon the British pound as the national currency if the Scots vote to leave the UK at the second referendum. The leader of the Scottish National Party unveiled the official stance on this thorny issue to the EU authorities in Brussels. However, retaining the sterling would not disrupt Scotland’s entry into the EU.
“It is not my party’s position to go into the euro and I do see that changing. Self-evidently, it is not a requirement for EU membership in practice,” Sturgeon said in an interview to the Politico news website in Brussels. “The pound is Scotland’s currency right now, the pound as everybody knows is a fully tradable international currency. There is absolutely nothing to stop Scotland using the pound,” the policymaker cleared up the matter.
Interestingly, Scotland’s leader stated a year ago that Scotland would gain independence from the UK by 2025. “I think Scotland will become independent. This is the volition of the Scottish nationals”, the first minister stated in the interview, answering the question whether the UK would split by 2025. When a transition period expired, possibly in about 10 years, an independent Scotland could introduce its own currency.
