"Within a month from its formal launch, euro has displaced dollar as the primary currency in the international bond market, and world economies cannot afford to ignore it," she said, adding that London had already become the principal trading centre for the euro because of its world class infrastructure, its unique position on the time zone, the presence of all major banks and businesses and its expertise in commercial transactions.

Commenting on her country's decision to stay away from the first wave of member nations she said, "our priority is to deliver a stable economic environment to allow business and investment to flourish and this would not be served by joining before we were certain that United Kingdom could live with common European interest rates."

The British economy was at a different stage of the economic cycle and its entry at this stage would have complicated the whole process of converting to a common currency, said the director for Europe, Bank of England, John Townsend.

The government's policy is clear that only if the single currency is successful and the economic benefits to the UK from joining are clear and unambiguous will Britian be a part of it, she added.

The deputy chairman of the London Stock Exchange, Ian Salter said that the bourse, which accounts for 60 per cent of world trade, had also geared up to maintain its pre-eminent position through the launch of euro denominated products such as the euro depository receipt, euro denominated euro-bond, euro denominated convertible bond and shares.