finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

and

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

, a monetary authority is the entity that manages a country’s

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general def ...

and

money supply In macroeconomics, the money supply (or money stock) refers to the total volume of currency held by the public at a particular point in time. There are several ways to define "money", but standard measures usually include Circulation (curren ...

, often with the objective of controlling

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

interest rates An interest rate is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited, or borrowed (called the principal sum). The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the principal sum, the interest rate, th ...

, real

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...

unemployment rate Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the referen ...

. With its monetary tools, a monetary authority is able to effectively influence the development of short-term interest rates, but can also influence other parameters which control the cost and availability of money. Generally, a monetary authority is a

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 ba ...

currency board In public finance, a currency board is a monetary authority which is required to maintain a fixed exchange rate with a foreign currency. This policy objective requires the conventional objectives of a central bank to be subordinated to the exch ...

. Most central banks have a certain degree of independence from the government and its political targets and decisions. But depending on the political set-up, governments can have as much as a de facto control over monetary policy if they are allowed to influence or control their central bank. A currency board may restrict the supply of currency to the amount of another currency. In some cases there may be free banking where a broad range of entities (such as banks) can issue notes or coin. Commonly, there is one monetary authority for one country with its currency. However, there are also other arrangements in place, such as in the case of the

eurozone The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (€) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU policies ...

where the so-called

Eurosystem The Eurosystem is the monetary authority of the eurozone, the collective of European Union member states that have adopted the euro as their sole official currency. The European Central Bank (ECB) has, under Article 16 of its Statute,

, consisting of the

European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the prime component of the monetary Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#Intern ...

and the 19 European Union member states that have adopted the

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

as their sole official currency, is the sole monetary authority. Some countries do not have a central bank or other monetary authority, such as

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

Americas

Bank of Canada The Bank of Canada (BoC; french: Banque du Canada) is a Crown corporation and Canada's central bank. Chartered in 1934 under the ''Bank of Canada Act'', it is responsible for formulating Canada's monetary policy,OECD. OECD Economic Surveys: Ca ...

* Bermuda Monetary Authority *

Cayman Islands Monetary Authority The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) is the primary financial services regulator of the Cayman Islands and supervises its currency board. The CIMA manages the Cayman Islands currency, regulates and supervises financial services, provide ...

* Central Bank of Barbados *

Eastern Caribbean Central Bank The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) is the central bank for the Eastern Caribbean dollar and is the monetary authority for the members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), with the exception of the British Virgin Islands ...

Federal Reserve System The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...

(United States)

Asia

Central Bank of Sri Lanka The Central Bank of Sri Lanka ( CBSL; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව, Sri Lanka Maha Bankuwa) is the monetary authority of Sri Lanka. It was established in 1950 under the Monetary Law Act No.58 of 1949 (MLA), it is a ...

Hong Kong Monetary Authority The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is Hong Kong's central bank, central banking institution. It is a government authority founded on 1 April 1993 when the Office of the Exchange Fund and the Office of the Commissioner of Banking merged. Th ...

Maldives Monetary Authority The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) is the central bank of the republic of Maldives and was established on July 1, 1981, under the mandate provided by the "MMA Act" of 1981, located in the capital city of Malé. The current governor and chairp ...

Monetary Authority of Brunei Darussalam The Brunei Darussalam Central Bank (BDCB; ms, Bank Pusat Brunei Darussalam), formerly known as Monetary Authority of Brunei Darussalam (, AMBD) is the central bank of Brunei. It was established under the Monetari Brunei Darussalam Order, 2010, a ...

Monetary Authority of Singapore The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is the central bank and financial regulatory authority of Singapore. It administers the various statutes pertaining to money, banking, insurance, securities and the financial sector in general, as well ...

Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan The Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan ( dz, བྲུག་རྒྱལ་གཞུང་དངུལ་ལས་དབང་འཛིན་) is the central bank of Bhutan and is a member of the Asian Clearing Union. It is also the minting aut ...

Palestine Monetary Authority The Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA; ar, سلطة النقد الفلسطينية) is the emerging central bank of Palestine. The PMA, located in Ramallah, was established in 1994 following the signing of the Protocol on Economic Relations ( ...

Monetary Authority of Macao The Monetary Authority of Macao (; pt, Autoridade Monetária de Macau, AMCM) is the currency board and the de facto central bank of Macau. The regulatory institution was established on December 20, 1999, upon the transfer of sovereignty ov ...

Nepal Rastra Bank The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) ( ne, नेपाल राष्ट्र बैंक) was established April 26, 1956 A.D. ( Nepali Date: Baisakh 14, 2013 B.S.) under the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 1955, to discharge the central banking responsibili ...

Reserve Bank of India The Reserve Bank of India, chiefly known as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is responsible for ...

State Bank of Pakistan The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) ( ur, ) is the Central Bank of Pakistan. Its Constitution, as originally laid down in the State Bank of Pakistan Order 1948, remained basically unchanged until 1 January 1974, when the bank was Nationalized and ...

Europe

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

Hungarian National Bank The Hungarian National Bank ( hu, Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB)) is the central bank of Hungary and as such part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). The Hungarian National Bank was established in 1924 and succeeded the Royal Hungarian St ...

Bank of Latvia ) , ownership = 100% state ownership , headquarters = Riga , established = 7 September 1922 , president = Mārtiņš Kazāks , leader_title = Governor , bank_of = Latvia , reserves = US$3.05 billion , website www.bank.lv, preceded = Sta ...

Oceania

Reserve Bank of Australia The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is Australia's central bank and banknote issuing authority. It has had this role since 14 January 1960, when the ''Reserve Bank Act 1959'' removed the central banking functions from the Commonwealth Bank. Th ...

Reserve Bank of Fiji The Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) is the central bank of the Pacific island country of Fiji. The responsibilities of the RBF include issue of currency, control of money supply, currency exchange, monetary stability, promotion of sound finances, a ...

Reserve Bank of New Zealand The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ, mi, Te Pūtea Matua) is the central bank of New Zealand. It was established in 1934 and is constituted under the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989. The governor of the Reserve Bank is responsible for N ...

References

Central banks {{Money-stub

Americas

Asia

Europe

Oceania

See also

References