Government agency which, in developed countries, oversees the monetary system, controls the issue of currency notes, and acts as banker to the government and the banking system. Through its open-market operations a central bank influences interest rates and currency levels. Australia's central bank is the Reserve bank; in Japan, it is the bank of Japan, in the UK the Bank of England, in the US, the Federal Reserve System and in Germany the Bundesbank. See also: central-bank intervention, open-market operations, Reserve Bank of Australia.
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