What Rwanda's new central bank law changes
Senate approval for the governor, new crisis powers and tighter limits on lending to the state, the latest step on a road that began in 1964.
Kigali — Rwanda published a new law governing the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) on 24 July 2026, Law No. 033/2026. A lawyer at the firm ENS in Rwanda has set out what it changes.
The main changes
1. Appointments: the Governor and Deputy Governor are still named by Presidential Order, but now within 90 days of a vacancy and with Senate approval. 2. Crisis powers: handling bank failures becomes the BNR's own job, and it can lend in an emergency to banks that are solvent but short of cash. 3. Lending to the state is restricted further. 4. The Board grows from nine to eleven members, and no more than 30% may be civil servants. 5. The exchange rate: the power to fix it in exceptional circumstances moves from the President to the bank.
The bank's mandate also brings growth back, but only as a result of price stability, not as a separate goal.
A long road
In 1964 the BNR started with capital of Rwf30 million and a three-member board, closely tied to the Treasury. The 1997 law, part of rebuilding after the Genocide against the Tutsi, cut state borrowing sharply. In 2007 price stability became the mission and at least 30% of board members had to be women. By 2026, the author writes, the BNR has become an independent central bank and financial supervisor.
Source: The New Times via AllAfrica, 26 October 2026.
