(Suomen Pankki), the central bank of Finland. An autonomous public institution, it is the country’s bank of issue and provides banking services to the government and other banks.
The Bank of Finland was established in 1811 as the Exchange, Loan, and Deposit Office. Since 1868 it has carried out its business under the guarantee and supervision of the Finnish Parliament. Since the early 20th century it has performed all the basic functions of a central bank. Thus, it issues currency, controls the total volume of credit in the country, keeps cash accounts of the treasury, holds the country’s gold and currency reserves, and maintains the rate of exchange of the markka at a stable level.
In contrast to most central banks, the Bank of Finland rediscounts bills of exchange and grants loans not only to banks but also, to a small extent, to other clients. It holds the capital of the Mortgage Bank (Teollissys Hypoteekki Pankki), which was founded in 1956 and grants credits for capital investment. The Bank of Finland has 12 branch offices in the country.
As of the end of 1976, the total balance of the bank amounted to 10.0 billion markkaa. The bank’s capital and reserves totaled 1.9 billion, and the issuance of currency represented 2.9 billion markkaa. Other totals, in billions of markkaa, were as follows: deposits and current accounts, 2.6; loans and discounting of bills of exchange, 6.1; and gold and foreign currency, 1.8.