History of the NBB

In-depth study of the period from 1940 to 1971

The National Bank has published a comprehensive study of the period from 1940 to 1971 in four volumes. You can download digital versions of these volumes below. 

  • I. Herman Van der Wee and Monique Verbreyt (KU Leuven)
    Oorlog en monetaire politiek: de Nationale Bank van België, de Emissiebank te Brussel en de Belgische regering, 1939-1945
    (War and monetary policy: the National Bank of Belgium, the Bank of Issue in Brussels and the Belgian government from 1939 to 1945)
    Language: Dutch. Summary in French | Full text 
      
  • II. René Brion (ULB) and Jean-Louis Moreau (UCL)
    La politique monétaire belge dans une Europe en reconstruction (1944-1958)
    (Belgian monetary policy in a Europe undergoing reconstruction)
    Language: French. Summary in French | Full text
      
  • III. Walter Pluym and Olivier Boehme (NBB)
    Van de golden sixties tot de val van Bretton Woods (1959-1971)
    (From the golden sixties to the collapse of Bretton Woods)
    Language: Dutch. Summary in French | Full text
      
  • IV. Isabelle Cassiers and Philippe Ledent (UCL)
    Politique monétaire et croissance économique en Belgique à l'ère de Bretton Woods (1944-1971)
    (Monetary policy and economic growth in Belgium in the Bretton Woods era)
    Language: French. Summary in French | Full text

The National Bank of Belgium, from the Belgian franc to the euro, One and a half centuries of history

(c) NBB-BNB

The National Bank of Belgium, from the Belgian franc to the euro tells the story of the National Bank from its very beginning and offers the reader an accessible, succinct account covering 155 years, in the context of developments in Belgium and Europe.

This abundantly illustrated work aimed at the general public was produced jointly by three experts from the National Bank (Walter Pluym, Ivo Maes and Marianne Danneel) and coordinated by the economic historian Erik Buyst.

Racine Press nv, Tielt/Belgium - 2005
ISBN: 90-209-6438-0
296 pages