The Bank of Sierra Leone is the central bank of Sierra Leone. It issues the country’s currency, known as the Leone. The bank formulates and implements monetary policy, including foreign exchange.
| Website | http://www.bsl.gov.sl/ |
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Organisation and activities
The current governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone is Kelfala M. Kallon, who was appointed by president Julius Maada Bio, and took office in 2018 after he was approved by Parliament. The governor of the bank is appointed by the President of Sierra Leone for a term of five years.
The Bank Headquarters is at Siaka Stevens Street in the Central business district in Downtown Freetown.
The Bank is engaged in policies to promote financial inclusion and is a member of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI). On 20 December 2012, the member institution announced specific commitments toward AFI’s Maya Declaration to move further toward the eradication of financial exclusion in Sierra Leone.
Governors
- Gordon E. Hall, 1963–1966
- Samuel Bamidele Nicol-Cole, 1966–1970
- Samuel Lansana Bangura, 1970–1979
- Arthur Salaco Christopher Johnson, 1979-1980-?
- Jim Fornah, 1981–1985
- Victor Bruce, 1985–1986
- Abdul Rahman Turay, 1987-1992-?
- Stephen Mustapha Swaray, 1993–1997
- Christian Kargbo, 1997–1998
- James Sanpha Koroma, 1998–2003
- G. Melvin Tucker, acting, 2003
- James David Rogers, 2003–2007
- Samura Kamara, 2007–2009
- Sheku Sambadeen Sesay, 2009–2014
- Momodu Kargbo, 2014–2016
- Kaifala Marah, 2016–2017
- Patrick Saidu Conteh, 2017–2018
- Kelfala M. Kallon, 2018-
History
In order to create an independent economy for the new country, the government drafted legislation to create a central bank and a new currency. The enabling legislation was passed on 27 March 1963 and the bank began operations on 4 August 1964. At the same time, the Leone was introduced to replace the British West African pound, using a decimal system of currency.
