Although officially state owned in most countries, the central bank is usually an autonomous entity responsible for the stability of the national currency (see also money) and the national financial system as a whole. Furthermore it implements the country's monetary policy, which may conflict with the government's fiscal measures. Other duties might include providing financial services to governments (eg. storing other countries' monetary reserves) and supervising of banking institutions (eg. in the case of mergers and acquisitions) in order to protect the consumers.
Below is a list of several central banks and their countries:
Bank for international Settlements - an international organisation which fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks. http://www.bis.org/index.htm
