Central Bank of Somalia
Somalia's monetary authority, responsible for currency issuance, monetary policy, banking supervision, payment systems and financial stability.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
The Central Bank of Somalia (CBS), known in Somali as Bankiga Dhexe ee Soomaaliya, is Somalia's monetary authority and the institution responsible for central banking functions in the federal republic. Its statutory responsibilities include issuing currency, regulating banks and credit institutions, managing the country's external reserves, supporting the internal and external value of the Somali shilling, maintaining financial stability, and helping coordinate monetary and fiscal policy. It is headquartered in Mogadishu and has also maintained a branch in Baidoa. The institution's origins lie in the monetary and banking arrangements established during the colonial period. Following independence and the union of the former Italian Somaliland and British Somaliland in 1960, the Somali Republic created the Banca Nazionale Somala, or National Bank of Somalia, on 1 July 1960. The new institution took over central banking activities from the Cassa per la Circolazione Monetaria della Somalia and the Mogadishu branch of Banca d'Italia. It initially combined central banking with commercial banking functions. In 1968, the civilian government merged the Somali Credit Bank into the National Bank of Somalia. After the 1969 coup, the government reorganized and nationalized the banking system. In 1971, foreign-owned banks were consolidated into the Somali Commercial Bank, while commercial branches associated with the National Bank of Somalia and Banque de Port-Said were transferred to the Somali Savings and Credit Bank. This left the National Bank of Somalia focused on central banking. On 8 February 1975, it was renamed the Central Bank of Somalia. The commercial institutions were subsequently combined into the Commercial and Savings Bank of Somalia, at the time the country's only commercial bank. That institution stopped operating in 1990, and the central bank itself ceased functioning during the state collapse and civil war that followed the collapse of the national government in 1991. The Transitional Federal Government reopened the Central Bank in Mogadishu in 2009 as part of a broader effort to rebuild Somalia's national institutions. Reconstitution took place in an economy where the formal banking sector had been severely weakened, the US dollar was widely used alongside the Somali shilling, and remittance companies and other private financial operators provided much of the country's practical payments infrastructure. The bank's post-2009 agenda has therefore involved both rebuilding institutional capacity and gradually restoring formal monetary and financial governance. The CBS is organized around a Board of Directors, the Governor and Deputy Governor, and a Director General. Its functional departments include banking operations and payment systems, accounting and finance, internal audit, economic research, supervision, human resources, information technology, administration, currency, and legal services. Its supervisory remit covers commercial banks, credit institutions, foreign-exchange bureaus and money-transfer operators. The bank's medium- and long-term objectives include price stability, monetary and exchange-rate policy, protection of the Somali shilling's value, financial stability, and development of domestic and international credit and payment systems. The institution remains central to Somalia's continuing state-building and financial-sector formalization efforts. Its operating environment is shaped by limited public confidence in the local currency, extensive dollarization, dependence on remittances, uneven institutional reach and the legacy of prolonged conflict. The CBS is consequently both a conventional central bank and a reconstruction institution, with responsibilities extending from monetary management and regulation to the creation of a credible national financial infrastructure.
History
Banking activity in the territory that became Somalia developed under separate colonial administrations. Banca d'Italia opened a Mogadishu branch on 15 November 1920, while Banco di Napoli established a Mogadishu branch in 1938. In the former British Somaliland, the National Bank of India opened branches in Berbera and Hargeisa in 1952 and served as banker to the colonial government. These institutions formed part of the fragmented monetary and commercial banking environment inherited at independence. On 1 July 1960, after the formation of the Somali Republic, the government established the Banca Nazionale Somala. It absorbed the activities of the Cassa per la Circolazione Monetaria della Somalia and the Mogadishu branch of Banca d'Italia. Unlike a narrowly defined modern central bank, the institution initially performed both central and commercial banking roles. In 1968, the government merged the Somali Credit Bank, which had been created in 1954 during the trusteeship period, into the National Bank of Somalia. The banking system was reorganized following the 1969 coup. In 1971, the government nationalized four foreign banks and consolidated Banco di Roma, Banco di Napoli and National and Grindlays Bank into the Somali Commercial Bank. Commercial branches of the National Bank of Somalia and Banque de Port-Said were transferred to the Somali Savings and Credit Bank. The National Bank of Somalia was thereby left primarily with central banking responsibilities. On 8 February 1975, it adopted its current name, the Central Bank of Somalia. The Somali Commercial Bank and Somali Savings and Credit Bank were later merged into the Commercial and Savings Bank of Somalia. The Commercial and Savings Bank discontinued operations in 1990. The Central Bank also eventually stopped functioning amid the collapse of the Somali state and the civil war that followed the overthrow of the central government in 1991. For more than a decade, Somalia lacked an effective national monetary authority. During this period, private money-transfer businesses and informal financial networks played an important role in domestic and cross-border payments, while the US dollar circulated extensively alongside the Somali shilling. The Transitional Federal Government reopened the Central Bank in Mogadishu in 2009 as part of its campaign to restore national institutions. A branch in Baidoa was also reported to be operational. Rebuilding the bank required the gradual restoration of monetary-policy capacity, banking supervision, currency administration and formal payment infrastructure. The post-reopening institution operated in an environment characterized by limited confidence in the shilling, widespread dollarization, private-sector currency issuance and a large remittance economy. The Central Bank Act assigns the institution broad authority to exercise central banking functions, issue currency, regulate banking and credit, and manage external reserves. The bank's stated policy objectives include price stability, monetary and exchange-rate policy, maintaining the value of the Somali shilling, financial stability, coordination with fiscal policy, and the development of sound domestic and international credit and payment systems. Its supervisory responsibilities extend to commercial banks, credit institutions, foreign-exchange bureaus and money-transfer operators. Governance is vested in a Board of Directors, with the governor serving as board chair and chief executive. The deputy governor supports the governor and the director general serves as the chief operating official. The institution's departments cover supervision, economic research, currency, payment systems, finance, internal audit, legal services, human resources, information technology and administration. In the modern period, leadership changes have reflected the continuing process of rebuilding the bank and strengthening Somalia's formal financial institutions.
- 2019
Abdirahman M. Abdullahi becomes governor
[1]Abdirahman M. Abdullahi began his tenure as governor according to the referenced governor chronology.
- 2013
First recorded woman governor appointed
[1]Yussur A.F. Abrar was appointed governor, becoming the first woman reported to hold the position.
- 2009
Central bank reopened
[1]The Transitional Federal Government reopened the CBS in Mogadishu during its national-institution restoration program.
- 1990
Commercial and Savings Bank stops operating
[1]The country's principal commercial banking institution discontinued operations shortly before the state collapse.
- 1975
Current name adopted
[1]Banca Nazionale Somala was renamed the Central Bank of Somalia.
- 1971
Banking system nationalized and reorganized
[1]Foreign banks were nationalized and their activities were divided among newly organized state banking institutions.
- 1968
Somali Credit Bank merged into the national bank
[1]The civilian government combined the Somali Credit Bank with Banca Nazionale Somala.
- 1960
Banca Nazionale Somala established
[1]The newly independent Somali Republic created the National Bank of Somalia to take over specified monetary and banking activities.
- 1920
First modern banking branch in Mogadishu
[1]Banca d'Italia opened a branch in Mogadishu, identified as the first banking institution in Italian Somaliland.
Products and positioning
Somalia's public monetary authority and financial-system regulator
Currency · 1960
Somali shilling issuance
The CBS is legally empowered to issue and manage Somalia's national currency. Currency administration is a central challenge because the US dollar is widely accepted and the shilling has faced limited public confidence and inflationary pressure. The bank's longer-term role includes strengthening the currency's value and replacing privately introduced circulating notes when it has sufficient monetary and operational control.
Central banking service · 1960
Monetary and exchange-rate policy
The bank formulates and implements monetary and exchange-rate policy, with objectives including price stability, support for the Somali shilling, coordination with government fiscal policy and balanced economic growth. Its post-2009 capacity has been rebuilt in an economy characterized by dollarization and limited formal monetary transmission.
Financial regulation · 1989
Banking and financial-institution supervision
The CBS supervises commercial banks, credit institutions, foreign-exchange bureaus and money-transfer operators. Its supervisory mandate is associated with Financial Institutions Decree Law No. 37 of 23 November 1989 and forms a core part of the formalization of Somalia's financial sector.
Payment infrastructure · 2009
Payment-system oversight
Through its banking operations and payment-system functions, the CBS supports the development of formal domestic and international payments. This work complements the remittance and money-transfer networks that historically supplied much of Somalia's practical financial infrastructure.
Brand decisions
2009
Reopen the central bank as part of institutional reconstructionStrategyBackground
Somalia had lacked a functioning central monetary authority for many years after the collapse of the state and the disruption of formal banking.
Action taken
The Transitional Federal Government reopened the Central Bank of Somalia in Mogadishu and supported the operation of a Baidoa branch.
Aftermath
The reopening began a continuing effort to restore monetary-policy, currency-management, supervision and payment-system capabilities.
1975
Separate central banking from consolidated commercial bankingStrategyBackground
The government was restructuring a nationalized banking system that combined central, commercial, savings and credit functions.
Action taken
The Banca Nazionale Somala was renamed the Central Bank of Somalia, while commercial institutions were combined into the Commercial and Savings Bank of Somalia.
Aftermath
The CBS became the country's dedicated central banking institution, although the broader state banking system later ceased operating during the crisis of the early 1990s.
Recent events
- 2014
Bashir Isse approved as permanent governor[1]
Leadership change
The federal cabinet approved Bashir Isse as permanent governor and appointed Maryan Abdullahi Yusuf as deputy governor.
- 2013
Yussur A.F. Abrar appointed governor[1]
Leadership change
Yussur A.F. Abrar became governor and was described as the first woman appointed to lead the institution.
- 2013
Bashir Isse appointed interim governor[1]
Leadership change
Bashir Isse was appointed on an interim basis after Abrar resigned.
- 2009
Central Bank of Somalia reopens in Mogadishu[1]
Other · Leadership change
The Transitional Federal Government reopened the central bank as part of the restoration of national institutions after years of institutional collapse.
Sources1 sources
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