A Central Bank^*

A central bank is the institution that issues and administrates the legal currency and exercises the function of banker to the banks. Furthermore, it controls the monetary (the currency), credit (the interest rates) and foreign exchange (foreign exchange rates) systems of the country. Its principal functions include:

1. Acting as a State bank;
2. Controlling the issue of legal tender;
3. Receiving allocations of credit and giving loans to commercial banks and the Government;
4. Managing and directing the monetary (inflation controls) and financial policy of the nation; and,
5. Effecting transfers of currency with other countries of the world, among other functions.

In 1922, the Congress of Colombia passed Law 30 which authorized the Government to promote and realize the establishment of a bank which would serve the functions of currency issuance, draft, deposit and discount, with the immediate goal of remedying the delicate monetary and credit situation that the country had suffered from since the inception of the Republic.

The need to have access to external credit made it necessary to commission a delegation of foreign experts to advise the country on the organization of its monetary and banking structure.

REFERENCES

The Bank
| Introduction | History, Mission and Functions |
| Organizational Diagram | Financial Statements |
| Notes and Coins | Fellowships |
| Foundations | General Information |