Gabon - Banking and securities

The bank of issue is the Bank of the Central African States (Banque des Etats de l'Afrique Centrale-BEAC), the central bank for UDEAC members.

Commercial banking in Gabon is largely controlled by French and other foreign interests. At the end of 1999 there were 5 major commercial banks, including the Banque International de Commerce et d'Industrie du Gabon (BICIG, a branch of BNP France), the Union Gabonaise de Banque (UGB, a branch of Credit Lyonnais), the Banque Gabonaise et Francaise Internationale (BGFI, formerly Banque Paribas), Citibank, and The French Intercontinental Bank (FIBA).

The Gabonese Development Bank (BDG), 69% Gaboneseowned, is the nation's development bank. Other institutions concerned with development are the Credit Foncier du Gabon (CREFOGA, for housing), the Fund for Development and Expansion (FODEX, for small, to medium-sized firms), and the Banque Gabonaise de Credit Rural (loans for agriculture).

The International Monetary Fund reports that in 2001, currency and demand deposits—an aggregate commonly known as M1—were equal to $453.2 million. In that same year, M2—an aggregate equal to M1 plus savings deposits, small time deposits, and money market mutual funds—was $773.1 million. The discount rate, the interest rate at which the central bank lends to financial institutions in the short term, was 6.5%.

There is no securities market in Gabon, but in 1999, President Bongo spoke of opening a Gabon stock exchange.