Central Banking in the Seychelles started as far back as 1936,with the establishment of the Seychelles Currency Board, similar to other British colonies of the time. The Seychelles Notes Ordinance and the Coinage Ordinance of 1936 bestowed the responsibility for the issue and redemption of Seychelles currency on the Colonial Secretary and later, with the Financial Secretary, acting as Currency Commissioner.

Almost forty years later, under the Seychelles Currency Act of 1974, the issue, re-issue and redemption of currency became the joint responsibility of the Financial Secretary and the Accountant General (the Board), appointed as Currency Commissioners with the Treasury acting as agent. One important change relative to the previous set-up was that the colonial government granted the Board the authority to hold and manage all the domestic and foreign assets of the country. The Board however did not have the power to formulate or conduct monetary policy nor to act as the lender of last resort and supervise the banking sector. The issuance of domestic currency was constrained by the requirement that each issue be backed by foreign currency. However, a fiduciary issue of not more than 30 per cent of total issued currency against securities issued or guaranteed by the Government of Seychelles was possible. Similarly to other colonies, the domestic currency - Seychelles Rupee - was pegged at R13.3333 to the Pound Sterling.