Harry Dorinnie

Central Bank of Suriname

The Central Bank of Suriname (CBvS) opened its doors on the 1st of April 1957 and has ever since fulfilled an important role in the Surinamese economy. The CBvS is a unique financial institution and cannot be simply compared to the commercial banks. It functions as the monetary institution entrusted with the issuance into circulation of the Surinamese currency. The CBvS is also the custodian of the international reserves of the country and safeguards that sufficient gold and foreign currency reserves are available to meet Suriname's external payment obligations. The CBvS sees to it that the stability of the domestic and external value of the Surinamese currency is safeguarded. Obviously, there was money in circulation in the Surinamese economy even before the CBvS was established in 1957. The first coin was used in 1679 and was called the Papegaaienmunt (the parrot coin). On the coin a parrot is portrayed sitting on a branch with either one, two or four leaves. One leave equalled one pound of sugar, which then cost five cents. Due to the high cost to produce the coins, the colonial representative decided in 1757 to use playing cards as money. The cards got a face value, a stamp and an official's signature and were then issued as official money in Suriname. For a while Dutch money shipped from overseas was also being used as currency. This also proved cumbersome; therefore, in 1829 the West-Indische Bank was established in Paramaribo, with a mandate to issue a limited number (and value) of banknotes. Due to some problems this bank ceased to exist in 1848. There were banknotes in circulation but nowhere to centrally store, check, and re-issue them. As the economy grew, that is, trade and commerce and lending and savings were expanding, the need for a larger stock of money and its circulation became evident. visit www.cbvs.sr/en/about-cbvs/history for the complete history.