# Central Bank of Uruguay

The Central Bank of Uruguay (Spanish: Banco Central del Uruguay, BCU) is the central bank of Uruguay.

## History

The Central Bank of Uruguay was established on July 6, 1967 as an autonomous state entity (Spanish: Ente Autónomo), with the passing of the 196th article of the Constitution of 1967. Prior to the creation of the BCU, the issuing of currency and managing and supervising of the banking system was handled by the department of the Banco de la República Oriental del Uruguay.
On March 30, 1995 a bank charter was passed (Law 16,696), which expanded the BCUs responsibilities and set out the management structure as well as the functions and responsibilities of the bank.
The headquarters of the Central Bank in Ciudad Vieja, Montevideo houses the numismatic museum, in which both Uruguayan coins and banknotes from the Banco de la República and the Central Bank, as well as foreign ones, are exhibited.

## Functions

According to the 7th article of the BCU's Charter, its responsibilities are;
* Issuer of money notes and coins, as well as their withdrawal throughout the republic
* Manage monetary, credit and currency exchanging as set out by law
* Act as economic advisor, banker and financial agent of the Government
* Administer the international reserves of the State
* Be the banker of all government institutions
* Represent the Uruguayan government at international financial organisations
* Regulate and supervise all financial institutions

## List of presidents

List of the presidents of Central Bank of Uruguay.
| # | Name | Term of office | Term of office | Tenure length | Notes |
| # | Name | Start of term | End of term | Tenure length | Notes |
| 1 | Enrique V. Iglesias | May 16, 1967 | January 9, 1969 | 1 year, 238 days | |
| 2 | Carlos Sanguinetti | January 10, 1969 | October 27, 1970 | 1 year, 290 days | |
| 3 | Armando Malet | October 27, 1970 | November 21, 1970 | 25 days | |
| 4 | Nilo Márquez | December 14, 1970 | August 12, 1971 | 241 days | |
| 5 | Jorge Echeverría | August 12, 1971 | March 1, 1972 | 201 days | |
| 6 | Juan Pedro Amestoy | March 1, 1972 | June 4, 1973 | 1 year, 95 days | |
| 7 | Carlos Ricchi | June 4, 1973 | December 23, 1974 | 1 year, 202 days | |
| 8 | José Gil Díaz | December 23, 1974 | July 5, 1982 | 7 years, 194 days | |
| 9 | José María Puppo | July 5, 1982 | February 24, 1984 | 1 year, 234 days | |
| 10 | Juan Carlos Protasi | February 24, 1984 | April 15, 1985 | 1 year, 50 days | |
| 11 | Ricardo Pascale | April 16, 1985 | April 9, 1990 | 4 years, 358 days | |
| 12 | Ramón Díaz | April 9, 1990 | October 18, 1993 | 3 years, 192 days | |
| 13 | Enrique Braga | October 18, 1993 | April 7, 1995 | 1 year, 171 days | |
| 14 | Ricardo Pascale | April 7, 1995 | April 18, 1996 | 1 year, 11 days | |
| 15 | Humberto Capote | April 18, 1996 | April 12, 2000 | 3 years, 360 days | |
| 16 | César Rodríguez Batlle | April 13, 2000 | July 24, 2002 | 2 years, 102 days | |
| 17 | Julio de Brun | July 25, 2002 | March 10, 2005 | 2 years, 228 days | |
| 18 | Walter Cancela | March 10, 2005 | October 24, 2008 | 3 years, 228 days | |
| 19 | Mario Bergara | November 11, 2008 | December 26, 2013 | 5 years, 45 days | |
| 20 | Alberto Graña | January 10, 2014 | April 20, 2015 | 1 year, 100 days | |
| 21 | Mario Bergara | April 20, 2015 | October 11, 2018 | 3 years, 173 days | |
| 22 | Alberto Graña | October 11, 2018 | March 4, 2020 | 1 year, 145 days | |
| 23 | Diego Labat | March 20, 2020 | July 25, 2024 | 4 years, 127 days | |
| 24 | Washington Ribeiro | July 26, 2024 | Incumbent | 225 days | |