Monetary authority is a generic term in finance and economics for the entity which controls the money supply of a given currency, and has the right to set interest rates, and other parameters which control the cost and availability of money. Generally a monetary authority is a central bank, though often the executive branch of a government has de facto control over monetary policy by controlling the central bank. There are other arrangements, for example democratic governance of monetary policy, a central bank for several nations, a currency board which restricts currency issuance to the amount of another currency, free banking where a broad range of entities can issue notes or coin.
Famous quotes containing the words monetary and/or authority:
“In our time, the curse is monetary illiteracy, just as inability to read plain print was the curse of earlier centuries.”
—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)
“At a distance, we cannot conceive of the authority of a despot who knows all his subjects on sight.”
—Stendhal [Marie Henri Beyle] (1783–1842)