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| Headquarters | Chamwino P.O Box 2303 40184Dodoma, Tanzania |
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| Coordinates | 6°48′57″S39°17′39″E / 6.81583°S 39.29417°E /-6.81583; 39.29417 |
| Established | 14 June 1966(began operations) |
| Ownership | 100%state ownership[1] |
| Governor | Emmanuel Mpawe Tutuba |
| Central bank of | Tanzania |
| Currency | Tanzanian shilling (TSh) TZS (ISO 4217) |
| Reserves | US$3 930 million[1] |
| Preceded by | East African Currency Board |
| Website | Central bank website |
TheBank of Tanzania (Swahili:Benki Kuu ya Tanzania) is thecentral bank of theUnited Republic of Tanzania. It is responsible for issuing the nationalcurrency, theTanzanian shilling.
The bank was established under the Bank of Tanzania Act 1965. However, in 1995, the government decided that thecentral bank had too many responsibilities, thus hindering its other objectives. As a result, the government introduced the Bank of Tanzania Act 1995, which gave the bank the single objective ofmonetary policy.
It is governed by a board of directors consisting of ten people, four of whom areex officio members which have three advisory committees that can assist them. The bank is headed by its Governor, assisted by three deputy governors in Administration, Economic and financial policies and Financial stability.
The Bank of Tanzania was chartered by the first parliament of Tanzania through the Bank of Tanzania Act of 1965 following the dissolution of theEast African Currency Board in 1965.[2][3] The bank commenced operations on June 14, 1966, and was inaugurated by the first president ofTanzania, MwalimuJulius Kambarage Nyerere.[4]
Immediately after its formation, theArusha declaration was proclaimed, and the traditional roles of the bank was modified to accommodate for the changes in the economic system. The lack of competition in the financial markets meant the bank had to reorient its role in the economy. After 1971 The Exchange Control Ordinance and Import Control Ordinance allowed the bank to apply the following plans:[5]
With increased villagization during the period and the continued weakness in the balance of payment of the bank, the Bank of Tanzania act was amended in 1978 to give the bank more control. The Act shifted the responsibility of financial planning from theministry of finance and planning directly to the bank.[6]
Following the liberalization of the economy in 1995 and the rapid rate of inflation and devaluation in theshilling, the Bank of Tanzania act of 1995 was passed which clarified the primary objective of the central bank to establish a monetary environment to ensure Price stability.[3] The act was further clarified in 2006 and is the current governing act for the bank.[7]
The Bank of Tanzania has a board of directors consisting of 10 people. Four members are directly appointed by thePresident of Tanzania. TheMinistry of Finance and the Principal Secretary to the Treasury of theRevolutionary Government of Zanzibar also appoint a member each to the board.
The current board composition consists of the following:[8]
Below is a list of the eight Bank of Tanzania governors with seven former governors and one acting governor:
The Bank is headquartered in Dar es Salaam in the heart of the financial district of the city and also maintains the following 6 branches in the following cities:
The last branch was opened inMtwara due to the recent economic growth in the southern regions.[10]
The Bank is active in promotingfinancial inclusion policy and is a leading member of theAlliance for Financial Inclusion. It is also one of the original 17 regulatory institutions to make specific national commitments to financial inclusion under theMaya Declaration[11] during the 2011Global Policy Forum held in Mexico.
In 2016, the Bank's Governor ProfessorBenno Ndulu renewed the Bank's commitment by launching the National Financial Inclusion Framework (NFIF),2016-2020. The objective is to reduce the number of vulnerable households due to low unstable incomes, low confidence and self-exclusion from the current 28.2 per cent.[12]
The Bank also has its own training institute located inMwanza.[13]
The Bank of Tanzania was involved in an incident which resulted in an audit of its External Arrears Account. AboutTSh 133 billion were discovered to have been lost in 2005 through dubious payments. As a result, thePresident of Tanzania fired the bank's Governor,D. T. S. Ballali, on9 Jan 2008. ProfessorBenno Ndulu was appointed to take this position on the same day.[14]
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