The Bank of Latvia (Latvijas Banka,) is the central bank of Latvia. It is among the nation's key public institutions and carries out economic functions as prescribed by law. It was established in 1922 and became the sole issuer of currency in Latvia in 1927. It became a part of the European Central Bank (ECB) when Latvia adopted the euro on January 1st, 2014. Until then, the bank was responsible for the former national Latvian currency, the lats.
The principal objective of the Bank of Latvia is to regulate currency in circulation by implementing monetary policy to maintain price stability in Latvia. The Bank of Latvia administration is located in Riga. The fiscal year for the bank begins on 1 January and ends on 31 December.
On 7 September 1922, the Constitutional Assembly adopted the Law on the Establishment of the Bank of Latvia. The Bank of Latvia was granted emission rights. The Bank's interim statutes were approved on 19 September 1922, with the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers, and its initial capital was 10 million lats.
On 24 April 1923, Saeima approved the Statute of the Bank of Latvia, signed by President Jānis Čakste on 2 July. The bank was headed by a council and board. The Council consisted of a chairman, a deputy, and 11 members, but the board included a director general, his deputy, and three directors.
On 17 June 1940, Latvia was occupied and was incorporated into the USSR on 5 August. On 25 July, the Law on the Nationalization of Banks and Large Industrial Enterprises was adopted. After the Second World War, both money emission and the Treasury's functions were performed by the USSR State Bank, but the money system of the Latvian SSR was under its full control.
On 2 March 1990, the Latvian SSR Supreme Council passed the Law "On Banks" and the decision "On the Bank of Latvia". It determined that the Bank of Latvia, a local central bank, was reestablished as an independent state bank, a money issuing center, a central bank in relation to commercial banks, an organizer of the execution of the state budget, and a monetary policy regulator.