Central Bank of Solomon Islands

What Central Bank of Solomon Islands does

The Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI) is the statutory monetary authority and financial system regulator of Solomon Islands, established in February 1983 under the Central Bank Act 1976 and re-empowered by the Central Bank Act 2012, with a primary mandate to maintain domestic price stability. The Bank formulates and implements monetary policy (anchored since February 2026 by a formal CBSI Policy Rate of 1.5%), issues and manages the Solomon Islands dollar, holds and invests foreign reserves (SBD 6,797m as of June 2026, equivalent to 12 months of import cover), operates the national payment system infrastructure including SOLATS and the SWIFT Alliance Cloud with ISO 20022 messaging, and provides banker, fiscal agent, and advisory services to the Government. It is the prudential supervisor of commercial banks, credit unions, insurers, and now credit reporting bodies under the Credit Reporting Regulations 2025.

CBSI's "customers" are licensed financial institutions, the Government, exporters subject to exchange control, and the broader public. Services are delivered through regulated intermediaries: four commercial banks operate 15 branches as authorized dealers, supported by mobile money agents, EFTPOS, and ATMs across 6,155 access points. The Bank operates a regulatory sandbox that has produced TrigaCash, the country's first climate-risk parametric microinsurance product, and is pursuing CBDC exploration and a Unified QR Code Standard in partnership with the Australian Government. The organization employs 201 staff (40% women), is led by Governor Dr. Luke Forau (re-appointed October 2025), and is funded through seigniorage, foreign reserve returns, and supervisory fees rather than commercial pricing. Recent strategic activity includes the Inclusive Green Finance Roadmap 2026-2030 with GGGI and AFD, credit reporting framework implementation with IFC, and a new climate-resilient headquarters project targeted for completion in Q4 2030.

Name

Central Bank of Solomon Islands

Legal name

Central Bank of Solomon Islands

Website

https://cbsi.com.sb

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The Central Bank of Solomon Islands is the statutory monetary authority and financial regulator of Solomon Islands, issuing the national currency, setting monetary policy, supervising banks and credit unions, managing foreign reserves, and operating the national payment system. It serves the Government, licensed financial institutions, and the public through regulatory and policy functions rather than commercial sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Central Banking

NAICS

Monetary Authorities-Central Bank (521)

SIC

International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro primary industry

Financial Services Regulators (Banking, Securities, Insurance) (BPAIAOAK)

Keywords

• Monetary policy operations
• Currency issuance management
• Financial system supervision
• National payment systems
• Foreign reserve management

Headquarters

HQ city

Honiara

HQ country

Solomon Islands

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Seigniorage (Currency Operations): Revenue derived from issuing currency (notes and coins) into circulation. The difference between the face value of currency issued and the cost of production represents seigniorage income. CBSI issues, regulates and manages the currency of Solomon Islands.
2. Regulatory and Supervisory Fees: Fees collected from licensed financial institutions for supervision, licensing, and compliance oversight under the Financial Institutions Act and related regulations.
3. Foreign Reserve Management: Income generated from managing international reserves held and managed by the Central Bank, including returns on foreign currency holdings and SDR allocations.
4. Government Services (Fiscal Agent): CBSI acts as banker, financial adviser and fiscal agent to the Government, providing banking services to public bodies and organisations of Solomon Islands.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI) is the nation's monetary authority and financial system regulator. It formulates and implements monetary policy, issues and manages the Solomon Islands currency, regulates and supervises licensed financial institutions, operates the national payment system infrastructure, manages foreign reserves, and acts as banker and fiscal agent to the Solomon Islands Government. Its offerings include monetary policy instruments (Treasury Bills, Bokolo Bills, Development Bonds), a national payment system (SOLATS, SWIFT messaging), currency issuance, exchange rate services, prudential supervision, regulatory sandbox, credit reporting framework oversight, and economic statistics publications.

Product overview

The Central Bank of Solomon Islands operates as the nation's central bank with a diversified portfolio of financial products and services organized around four core pillars: (1) Monetary Policy Instruments including Treasury Bills, Bokolo Bills, and Development Bonds used to manage liquidity and influence interest rates; (2) National Payment Infrastructure comprising the Automated Transfer System (SOLATS), SWIFT messaging, and the emerging Unified QR Code Standard for digital payments; (3) Financial Sector Regulation including the Credit Reporting Framework, Regulatory Sandbox for fintech innovation, and Central Bank Digital Currency exploration; and (4) Economic Intelligence Services including Statistical Publications, Economic Statistics Dashboard, and Financial Stability Reports. The Bank's strategic initiatives focus on financial inclusion, climate resilience through parametric insurance products like TrigaCash, and currency management including commemorative banknotes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Treasury Bills

Quantifiable outcome

• Foreign reserves adequate at approximately 12 months of import cover, providing strong buffer against external shocks
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, strategic and minor.

• Australia (Government)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 June 2026Australia, through its High Commissioner to Solomon Islands, partnered with CBSI on Phase 2 of the Unified QR Code Standard Project. The initiative aims to establish a single, nationally recognised QR code standard enabling seamless digital payments. Australia has supported Solomon Islands' financial system development for many years and provides technical and financial assistance for payment system modernization.
• Rural InclusionstrategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 May 2026CBSI partnered with Rural Inclusion to host the first-ever National Digital Financial Literacy Content Hub Stakeholder Workshop. The collaboration aims to improve digital financial literacy across Solomon Islands, particularly for underserved and rural communities, through coordinated stakeholder engagement.
• Solomon Islands Financial Intelligence Unit (SIFIU)coreOthers · 20 March 2026CBSI works with SIFIU through the Solomon Islands Financial Intelligence Unit to combat financial crimes including money mule scams, pyramid schemes (such as F-Mobile warning), and other fraudulent financial activities targeting Solomon Islanders.
• Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI)strategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 March 2026GGGI partnered with CBSI through the Greening the Pacific Financial Systems (GPFS) programme to develop the Inclusive Green Finance Roadmap 2026-2030. GGGI's Country Representative Mohammad Ali Shaikh highlighted the importance of inclusive green finance in supporting vulnerable communities. The programme works to strengthen climate risk management and expand sustainable investment in the Pacific region.
• IMF Institute for Capacity Development (IMF-ICD) and Singapore Regional Training Institute (STI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 March 2026A five-year Technical Assistance project concluded in 2026 focused on improving forecasting and analytical capacity, streamlining decision-making, and strengthening policy communication at CBSI. Led by IMF TA Mission Chief Diego Rodriguez Guzman, the partnership enhanced macroeconomic modelling and forecasting capabilities, enabling more forward-looking and data-driven monetary policy.
• Asian Development Bank (ADB)strategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 October 2025ADB partnered with CBSI through the Asia-Pacific Applied Economics Association (APAEA) for joint research workshops. The collaboration enhances economic research capacity and supports CBSI's analytical and policymaking capabilities through knowledge exchange and technical cooperation.
• International Finance Corporation (IFC) - World Bank GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 September 2025CBSI collaborated with IFC in developing the Comprehensive Credit Reporting Regulations 2025, effective 12 September 2025. IFC, as the World Bank Group's private sector development arm, provided technical expertise for establishing the legal and operational framework for credit information collection, use, and protection in Solomon Islands.
• UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2025UNCDF supports the Pacific Insurance and Climate Adaptation Programme (PICAP) which partnered with CBSI's parametric microinsurance initiative. UNCDF, TPAL, M-SELEN, and YouSave (SINPF) collaborated on TrigaCash, the country's first climate-risk parametric microinsurance product launched under CBSI's regulatory sandbox.
• Trans Pacific Assurance Limited (TPAL)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2025TPAL is the insurance provider for TrigaCash, Solomon Islands' first climate-risk parametric microinsurance product. TPAL's digital payout mechanism enabled 35 policyholders to receive SBD 8,800 in total payouts within two weeks of the January 2026 rainfall event, demonstrating rapid climate risk protection delivery.
• M-SELEN (Mobile Wallet Provider)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 May 2025M-SELEN provides the mobile wallet platform for TrigaCash parametric insurance payout delivery. The fully digital mechanism enables affected households to receive funds directly into their M-SELEN mobile wallets, ensuring fast, secure, and transparent financial relief from climate events.
• KapronasiaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Kapronasia collaborated with CBSI, the Government of Australia, and UNCDF through the Pacific Digital Economy Programme (PDEP) to produce the Assessment of the Retail Payments Ecosystem in Solomon Islands report, providing expertise on digital payment modernization.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Bank of Botswana: Commodity-export central bank in a small open economy, offering a peer benchmark on managing extractive-sector FX inflows, sovereign wealth-type reserve buffers, and inflation control.
• Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP): Philippine central bank; a regional incumbent advancing CBDC and digital payments at scale, illustrating the trajectory CBSI's CBDC exploration and ISO 20022 migration could follow in a Pacific context.
• Bank of Mauritius: Central bank of Mauritius; a similarly small island economy that has used central-bank-led financial inclusion and payments modernization to scale up, providing a development reference point.
• Eastern Caribbean Central Bank: Multilateral central bank serving multiple Caribbean island states; comparable institutional model for a sub-regional monetary authority managing currency, payments, and supervision across small economies.

Direct peers

• Reserve Bank of Fiji: Central bank of Fiji; the most comparable Pacific island central bank peer by scale and mandate, with similar responsibilities across monetary policy, currency issuance, financial supervision, and reserve management.
• National Reserve Bank of Tonga: Central bank of Tonga; similarly sized Pacific central bank performing identical functions, including currency issuance, FX controls, and prudential oversight.
• Maldives Monetary Authority: Monetary authority of the Maldives; another small island developing state central bank with similar tourism-driven exposure and a comparable policy mix to support payments modernization and reserves management.
• Reserve Bank of Vanuatu: Central bank of Vanuatu; comparable scale and mandate in another small Pacific economy, with similar focus on financial inclusion and disaster/climate resilience.
• Central Bank of Samoa: Central bank of Samoa; small Pacific island monetary authority with an analogous institutional structure and broad supervisory, currency, and payments system responsibilities.
• Bank of Papua New Guinea: Central bank of Papua New Guinea; operates a closely comparable mandate in a Pacific commodity-export economy with similar functions in FX controls, prudential supervision, and government banking.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cbsiinfo
• Facebookfacebook.com/cbsiinfo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/central-bank-of-solomon-islands

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Central Bank of Solomon Islands