Bank of Guyana

The Bank of Guyana is Guyana's central bank, created by the Bank of Guyana Ordinance No. 23 of 1965, seven months before the country's 1966 independence, and headquartered in the capital, Georgetown. It began operating on October 16, 1965, holds the sole right to issue and redeem the Guyanese dollar, acts as banker to the commercial banks, and serves as the government's fiscal agent. New Guyanese dollar notes entered circulation on November 15, 1965, replacing the currency of the former British Caribbean Currency Board, and the bank introduced a five thousand dollar note in 2012, its highest denomination yet. Its first governor was Horst Bockelmann, seconded from Germany's Deutsche Bundesbank, and Gobind Ganga has held the post since November 2014. In December 2019 the bank became the managing body of Guyana's first sovereign wealth fund, built from the country's new offshore oil royalties.