|
Information:
The Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) was established in the
Banjul capital in 1971 to take the place of the Gambia Currency
Board which was formed in 1964.
Its main role is to act as banker to the Gambia Government
and the commercial banks. They are also responsible for providing
a secure & efficient payment & settlement system within
the finance sector.
 The
institution performs its role independently. However, its
role is carried under the general supervision of the Secretary
of State for Finance
and Economic Affairs.
In addition, the CBG has a responsibility to carry out fiscal
and monetary policies that have been agreed between the Gambian
authorities and the IMF. Furthermore, it has a duty to carry
out its responsibilities within the framework of the current
economic integration processes in ECOWAS. The date set for
the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) is the 1st December
2009. The CBG job therefore is to work towards the country
fulfilling the primary and secondary convergence criteria.
The CBG engages in the money market to make sure that interest
rates are matched with the policy position of the CBG.
The currency department discharges the Bank’s statutory obligation
to ensure that there is enough notes and coins to meet the
demand of the public.
Monetary policy is aimed at keeping domestic inflation down
to single figures. The CBG uses a monetary targeting framework.
It sets an intermediate target for growth in broad money (as
nominal anchor) and uses reserve money as its operating target.
The CBG issues Treasury Bills as the main instrument for managing
reserve money growth. The Central Bank also has a Monetary
Policy Committee (MPC) to set the rediscount rate every 2
months.
The Central Bank's other functions involve various departments
who issuing (Gambia Government T-Bills) on behalf of the Government,
banking supervision, insurance industry compliance, licensing
foreign exchange bureaus, economic research, the production
of statistics.
|
