Bank of Tanzania
 |
|
Prof. Florens Luoga |
| Headquarters Dar Es Salaam |
| Established 1966 |
| Currency Tanzanian shilling - TZS (ISO Code ) |
| Website www.bot.go.tz |
The Bank of Tanzania, is the central bank of the United Republic of Tanzania and was established following the decision to dissolve the East African Currency Board (EACB), which under the British Colonial rule, provided for and controlled the supply of currency in the East Africa protectorate. The board operated in Tanzania Mainland, Zanzibar, Kenya and Uganda. The board issued its own currency notes and coins for circulation in East Africa.
Following the disbanding of the EACB, the National Assembly of Tanzania enacted the Bank of Tanzania Act, 1965, in December 1965, which provided the statutory basis of the functioning of the Bank, which commenced its operations on June 14, 1966.
The Bank was empowered to perform all traditional Central Banking functions. In addition, the bank assumed special role in the context of development, with particular focus on the transformation of the rural economy, industrialization, and to address the persistent weakness in the Balance of Payments.
The Bank of Tanzania Act was amended in 1978 to incorporate the Development Functions. In order to be able to discharge on the developmental roles four special funds were established namely; The Rural Finance Fund, The Industrial Finance Fund, The Export Guarantee Fund, and The Capital and Subsidy Funds, intended to provide refinance and offer guarantee facilities to Banks and other financial institutions against their loans and advances to specified sectors of the economy.
The Bank of Tanzania act was further amended in 1995 and 2006 to accommodate developments in the economy, particularly in the financial sector. Under the new act, the principal functions of the Bank shall be to exercise the functions of a central bank and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, to formulate, implement and be responsible for monetary policy, including exchange rate policy, to issue currency, to regulate and supervise banks and financial institutions including mortgage financing, development financing, lease financing, licensing and revocation of licenses and to deal, hold and manage gold and foreign exchange reserves of Tanzania.
The Bank of Tanzania headoffice is in Dar es Salaam and it operates 4 branches, three in the Tanzania Mainland, and one in Tanzania Zanzibar.
