The Monetary Board is a protagonist in the economic history of the country

A few years after the creation of the Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE) on August 10, 1927, the changes that occurred in the global and national economy made it necessary to rethink the role of said institution. Thus, on March 12, 1948, by Emergency Decree 434, the Monetary Regime Law was passed, which replaced the previous Board of Directors and Administration Council of the Central Bank with the Monetary Board. The new collegiate body was the result of work carried out by a mission of foreign experts chaired by Robert Triffin.

The Board was composed of nine members: four from the public sector –National Congress, Ministry of Economy, National Council of Economy and National Welfare Institute–; four from the private sector –two from production chambers and two from private banks–; and, one elected by all of the members. On May 10 of that year, Gregorio Ormaza Egüez took office, and he remained as President of the Monetary Board until August 12, 1952.

It should be noted that this form of government of the Central Bank headed by the Monetary Board has been the one that has lasted the longest throughout institutional life, until the reforms derived from the Constitution of 1998 consecrated the autonomy of the Central Bank presided over by a Board of Directors. In the 50 years of the Monetary Board (1948-2008), it had 30 Presidents, among them Clemente Yerovi Indaburu, Otto Arosemena Gómez, Jaime Acosta Velasco (two periods), León Roldós Aguilera, Raúl Clemente Huerta, Alberto Dahik Garzozi, Rodrigo Espinosa Bermeo, Abelardo Pachano Bertero, Germánico Salgado Peñaherrera, Ana Lucía Armijos, Danilo Carrera Drouet, and others.

Subsequently, with the Monetary Regime and State Bank Law of 1992, the General Law of Financial Institutions of 1994, and the Constitution of 1998, a process of Central Bank autonomy was consolidated, and its governing body became the Board of Directors.

Later, after the implementation of the Organic Monetary and Financial Code (published in the Official Gazette Second Supplement No. 332 on September 12, 2014), the Monetary and Financial Policy and Regulation Board (JPRMF) came into operation, while the BCE came to be directed by a General Manager.

On October 12, 2021, the National Assembly appointed and swore in the members of the current Monetary Policy and Regulation Board (Tatiana Rodríguez Cerón, Katia Paulina Garzón Alvear, and Wilson Pérez Oviedo) and Financial Policy and Regulation Board (María Paulina Vela Zambrano, Iván Eduardo Velástegui, and Catalina Pazos Chimbo), entities created under the Organic Law Amending the Organic Monetary and Financial Code for the Defense of Dollarization, approved by the Legislative body on April 22, 2021, and published in the Official Gazette on May 3, 2021. According to current law, the two Boards are made up of three members each.