Establishment, Objectives, Functions and Powers of Nepal Rastra Bank
1. Historical Background Central banking is a recent phenomenon mainly related to 19 th and 20 th centuries, although certain central banking functions were performed by certain institutions in the olden days. The growth of central banks has been very slow. The Riks Bank of Sweden is the earliest bank established in 1656. The bank of England, though founded in 1694, started functioning as the central bank with the passing of the Bank Charter Act, 1882. Other major countries which established central banks in the 19 th century are France (1800), Netherlands (1814), Russia (1860), Germany (1875), Japan (1882), etc. The movement of central banking started in the 20 th century, particularly after the International Financial Conference meeting at Brus...