The Bank of the Republic ( es, Banco de la República) 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 centra ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

. It was initially established under the regeneration era in 1880. Its main modern functions, under the new Colombian constitution were detailed by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

according t
Ley 31 de 1992
One of them is the issuance of the Colombian currency, the

peso The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named " doll ...

. The bank is also active in promoting financial inclusion policy and is a leading member of th
Alliance for Financial Inclusion

History

There are at least three predecessors to the current bank. The first

national bank In banking, the term national bank carries several meanings: * a bank owned by the state * an ordinary private bank which operates nationally (as opposed to regionally or locally or even internationally) * in the United States, an ordinary p ...

was created in 1880, named the ''Banco Nacional'', and its functions included handling the state funds, issuing currency and making loans to the state. In 1894 the Congress closed the bank due to registered excesses in the issuance of currency and bonds. In 1905 the president

Rafael Reyes Rafael Reyes Prieto (December 5, 1849 – February 18, 1921) was a Colombian politician and soldier who was the Chief of Staff of the Colombian National Army and President of Colombia (1904–1909).Gobernantes Colombianos, Ignacio Arismendi Po ...

created the ''Banco Central de Colombia'' but it was closed in 1910 by Reyes opponents. In 1923, after several years of financial crisis, President

Pedro Nel Ospina Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...

requested an expert committee to study Colombian economic conditions. This committee, led by American economist

Edwin Walter Kemmerer Edwin Walter Kemmerer (June 29, 1875 – December 16, 1945) was an American economist, who became famous as an economic adviser to foreign governments in many countries (Philippines, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Germany, Chile, South Africa, Pola ...

(known as ''The Money Doctor'') was called the ''Mission Kemmerer''. Kemmerer had already worked with Latin American governments: that of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

in 1917 and of

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...

in 1919. He helped the Colombian government create the Banco de la República and the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic, and to structure the laws for this function using those already existing. After his work in Colombia, Kemmerer did the same for other Latin American governments, like

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

in 1925,

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

in 1926 and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

in 1931. The bank was officially chartered by the Law 25 of July 25, 1923, 5 days after the 113 anniversary of the

Independence of Colombia Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...

. With an initial capital of 10 million dollars in gold, half provided by the government and the rest by foreign and national commercial banks. Its role as a ''banker for banks'' includes: *Acting as a State Bank *Controlling the issue of the currency, the Colombian peso *Receiving foreign credits and make loans to the Government and private banks *Managing the financial policy of the country *Regulating the

exchange rate In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of t ...

between the peso and other currencies The Board of Directors was created by the same law, with ten members from private and public sectors of the economy with the power to enforce regulatory and monetary controls. The Board was also given the responsibility of establishing the discount rate and intervening to control

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 ...

Building

The headquarters of the Banco de la República are located in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

, in the historical center of the city (Calle 11 No. 4-21) and a few blocks away from the Gold Museum and the Luis Ángel Arango Library. Along with the ''Fiscalía General de la Nación de Colombia'' bunker, it is one of the most secure buildings in the country, with several security levels required to access different areas. The security is handled by private companies and the

Colombian National Police The National Police of Colombia (Spanish: ''Policía Nacional de Colombia'') is the national police force of the Republic of Colombia. Although the National Police is not part of the Military Forces of Colombia (Army, Navy, and Air Force), it ...

, armed with Colombian-made

MAC-10 The Military Armament Corporation Model 10, officially abbreviated as "M10" or "M-10", and more commonly known as the MAC-10, is a compact, blowback operated machine pistol/submachine gun that was developed by Gordon B. Ingram in 1964. It is ...

sub-machine guns, among others. Most of the administrative areas of the bank are located above ground, in a twelve-story building. Below the street there is a heavily guarded area where money in different currencies is stored, and in a special vault the country's reserve of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

Governors

Cultural administration

Beside their primary roles in the Colombian economy, the Banco de la República runs an extensive culture-preservation and dissemination program. It runs two important institutions in Colombian culture: the Gold Museum in Bogotá and the Luis Ángel Arango Library, but in addition, it runs other five Gold Museums (Armenia,

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...

, Cartagena, Pasto, and Santa Marta); the Leticia Ethnographic Museum; the Gómez Campuzano House in Bogotá; a 28-city Library Network; a Concert Hall in the Arango Library; and three museums in Bogotá, namely, the Mint Museum (Casa de la Moneda), the

Botero Museum The Botero Museum also known as Museo Botero is a museum located in Bogotá, Colombia. It houses one of Latin America's most important international art collections. It sees over 500,000 visitors annually, and of those 2,000 students per month. B ...

, and the MAMU (Museo de Arte Miguel Urrutia). Also, the Bank has two scholarship programs for the best researchers in Economics (Lauchlin Currie Scholarship) and in Economic Law (Enrique Low Murtra Scholarship).

Banrepcultural

The online presence of all the museum sites, plus an encyclopaedia, plus an online library, is called "Banrepcultural", a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words

References

External links

Banco de la República official site
{{Authority control

Peso The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named " doll ...

Banks established in 1923 1923 establishments in Colombia