Tel: 611 5000

MENU         EN  / TR

Home

History

The Central Bank of the TRNC started its activities on June 6, 1984, with 43 employees upon the enactment of the Central Bank of the TRNC Law on May 16, 1983. Until 1983, TC Ziraat Bank had been carrying out banking transactions in Northern Cyprus, where the Central Bank did not exist. As a requirement of the establishment of the TRNC government, the proliferation of banks and the insufficiency of the Ministry of Finance in their supervision made the establishment of the Central Bank mandatory. Therefore, the preparation of the law was initiated in 1983, and the overall legal aspect of the work was completed by preparing the Central Bank law, the Organization Law, and the relevant regulations. TRNC Central Bank has been put into service in the building belonging to the Foundations in Sarayönü. Established with a capital of 250,000,000 (two hundred and fifty million) TRY, provided by the Ministry of Finance, the bank engaged in all banking operations, except for the “emission” works carried out by the Central Banks.

 

As a result of the economic crisis that started in 1999, within the framework of the "Economic Stability Program" put into effect in October 2000, the restructuring of our Central Bank was brought to the agenda, and the Banking Law and Central Bank Law were amended in this context. Thus, while ensuring a single and more effective supervision of the banking sector, on the one hand, the Central Bank has been given an autonomous structure, like other Central Banks around the world.

 

The Central Bank, which was divided into two units as the Head Office and Head Branch in the first years of its establishment, was institutionalized for the first time after the authority to issue and revoke banking licenses was transferred to the Central Bank under the Banks Law No. 39/2001 and was divided into departments. The Head Office includes four departments and the Audit and Supervision Committee. Another department is the Head Branch. Following the update in the Central Bank Organization Law in 2017, the number of departments was increased to seven.