Sveriges Riksbank, Sweden’s central bank, was founded in 1668.
It traces its origins to the establishment of the Riksens Ständers Bank by the Swedish Parliament. The institution was created after the earlier Stockholm Banco failed, making a more formally supervised public bank necessary.
Riksbank is widely described as the world’s oldest central bank still in existence. Its modern responsibilities include monetary policy, financial stability, and issuing Sweden’s banknotes and coins, although Sweden’s currency is the krona.
A common mix-up is confusing the bank’s founding date with the introduction of the modern concept of central banking. Other early institutions, including the Bank of England, were founded later, in 1694. The Riksbank’s history therefore predates many central-bank traditions familiar today.