Staatsbank - Political Control of The State Bank

Political Control of The State Bank

Although the State Bank was always politically subordinate to the G.D.R. government, this was made explicit by a law of 19 December 1974 which defined the State Bank as an organ of the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic and formalised the practice of the Bank’s president being a member of the Council of Ministers. While this stood in stark contrast to the political independence of West Germany’s Bundesbank it was common during this era for there to be political control over the nation’s Central Bank-–though not usually to the extent found in East Germany and the other Eastern Bloc economies, where the polices and technical operation of the Central Bank were completely subservient to policies of the governing Socialist Unity Party of Germany.

The State Bank of the GDR was also a member of the International Bank for Economic Co-operation, a Comecon organisation founded in 1957 with its headquarters in Moscow. The nominal currencies used for trading, international clearing and settlement purposes by this organisation were transfer roubles and gold reserves.

Read more about this topic:  Staatsbank

Famous quotes containing the words political, control, state and/or bank:

    There is no legislation—I care not what it is—tariff, railroads, corporations, or of a general political character, that all equals in importance the putting of our banking and currency system on the sound basis proposed in the National Monetary Commission plan.
    William Howard Taft (1857–1930)

    The three-year-old who lies about taking a cookie isn’t really a “liar” after all. He simply can’t control his impulses. He then convinces himself of a new truth and, eager for your approval, reports the version that he knows will make you happy.
    Cathy Rindner Tempelsman (20th century)

    On our streets it is the sight of a totally unknown face or figure which arrests the attention, rather than, as in big cities, the strangeness of occasionally seeing someone you know.
    —For the State of Vermont, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)

    A bank is a confidence trick. If you put up the right signs, the wizards of finance themselves will come in and ask you to take their money.
    Christina Stead (1902–1983)