The Bank of Sierra Leone is the

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central b ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

. It issues the country's currency, known as the Sierra Leonean leone, Leone. The bank formulates and implements

monetary policy Monetary policy is the policy adopted by the monetary authority of a nation to control either the interest rate payable for very short-term borrowing (borrowing by banks from each other to meet their short-term needs) or the money supply, often a ...

, including

foreign exchange The foreign exchange market (Forex, FX, or currency market) is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. It includes all as ...

Organisation and activities

The current governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone is Kelfala M. Kallon, who was appointed by president

Julius Maada Bio Julius Maada Wonie Bio (born 12 May 1964) is a Sierra Leonean politician, and the current president of Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018. He is a retired brigadier general in the Sierra Leone Army and was the military head of state of Sierra Leo ...

, and took office in 2018 after he was approved by

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. The governor of the bank is appointed by the

President of Sierra Leone The president of the Republic of Sierra Leone is the head of state and the head of government of Sierra Leone, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. As the head of the executive branch of the Sierra Leone government, the presi ...

for a term of five years. The Bank Headquarters is at Siaka Stevens Street in the Central business district in Downtown

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and po ...

. The Bank is engaged in policies to promote financial inclusion and is a member of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI). On 20 December 2012, the member institution announced specific commitments toward AFI's Maya Declaration to move further toward the eradication of financial exclusion in Sierra Leone.

Governors

* Gordon E. Hall, 1963–1966 * Samuel Bamidele Nicol-Cole, 1966–1970 * Samuel Lansana Bangura, 1970–1979 *

Arthur Salaco Christopher Johnson Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

, 1979-1980-? * Jim Fornah, 1981–1985 * Victor Bruce, 1985–1986 * Abdul Rahman Turay, 1987-1992-? *

Stephen Mustapha Swaray Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

, 1993–1997 *

Christian Kargbo Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...

, 1997–1998 *

James Sanpha Koroma James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

, 1998–2003 * G. Melvin Tucker, acting, 2003 *

James David Rogers James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

, 2003–2007 *

Samura Kamara Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara is a Sierra Leonean politician and economist. He was the All Peoples Congress (APC) Party's candidate for President of Sierra Leone in the 2018 election. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International C ...

, 2007–2009 *

Sheku Sambadeen Sesay Sheku is a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Sheku Badara Bashiru Dumbuya (born 1945), Sierra Leonean politician * Sheku Kamara (born 1987), British footballer and criminal * Sheku Kanneh-Mason (born 1999), British celli ...

, 2009–2014 *

Momodu Kargbo Momodu Kargbo is a Sierra Leonean politician and economist. He served as the Minister of Finance of Sierra Leone from 13 March 2016 to April 2018. Previously, he served as the governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone since 17 July 2014 until 2016. K ...

, 2014–2016 *

Kaifala Marah Kaifala Marah (born in Koidu Town, Sierra Leone) is a Sierra Leonean politician, accountant, Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone (2016-2017), and Minister of Finance (2013-2016). On March 7, 2017, Dr. Marah resigned as governor in order to ...

, 2016–2017 *

Patrick Saidu Conteh Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick o ...

, 2017–2018 * Kelfala M. Kallon, 2018-

History

In order to create an independent economy for the new country, the government drafted legislation to create a central bank and a new currency. The enabling legislation was passed on 27 March 1963 and the bank began operations on 4 August 1964. At the same time, the Sierra Leonean leone, Leone was introduced to replace the British West African pound, using a decimal system of currency.

References

External links

*
Bank of Sierra Leone on the Sierra Leone Encyclopedia 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bank Of Sierra Leone Banks of Sierra Leone Government of Sierra Leone

1963 establishments in Sierra Leone Banks established in 1963 Companies based in Freetown

Organisation and activities

Governors

History

See also

References

External links