中央银行(central bank)

负责管理国家货币的供应量、信贷的供应和费用以及本国通货的外汇值的机构，如美国的联邦准备系统。中央银行扮演着政府财务代理人的角色、监督商业银行系统的业务活动、管理外汇管制系统、实施货币政策等。中央银行藉着增加或减少货币和信贷的供应量来影响利率，从而影响了经济。现代中央银行藉买卖资产（透过买卖政府的有价证券）来调节货币供给。它们也藉着抬高或降低贴现率来抑制或鼓励向商业银行借钱。中央银行利用调整储备金的需要（银行必须准备的最低现金，以免存款负债）来紧缩或扩大货币供给。目的是在维持一个高度就业情况和生产，以及稳定国内价格。中央银行并参与合作性的国际通货协商，以有助於稳定或调节参与国的外汇利率。尽管中央银行在职权、自主性、功能和运转的手段方面各异，但已一致加强了货币和其他的国家经济政策的互相依赖关系，特别是财政政策和债务管理政策。参阅bank、investment bank和savings bank。

English version：

central bank

Institution, such as the U.S. Federal Reserve System, charged with regulating the size of a nation's money supply, the availability and cost of credit, and the foreign-exchange value of its currency (see foreign exchange). Central banks act as the fiscal agent of the government, issuing notes to be used as legal tender, supervising the operations of the commercial banking system, and implementing monetary policy. By increasing or decreasing the supply of money and credit, they affect interest rates, thereby influencing the economy. Modern central banks regulate the money supply by buying and selling assets (e.g., through the purchase or sale of government securities). They may also raise or lower the discount rate to discourage or encourage borrowing by commercial banks. By adjusting the reserve requirement (the minimum cash reserves that banks must hold against their deposit liabilities), central banks contract or expand the money supply (see fractional reserve system). Their aim is to maintain conditions that support a high level of employment and production and stable domestic prices. Central banks also take part in cooperative international currency arrangements designed to help stabilize or regulate the foreign-exchange rates of participating countries. Central banks have become varied in authority, autonomy, functions, and instruments of action, but there has been consistent increased emphasis on the interdependence of monetary and other national economic policies, especially fiscal policies and debt-management policies. See also bank, investment bank, savings bank.