Central Bank Accountability: Comparative Study of United State and Iran Legal Systems

Central banks should act independently in regulating monetary, currency, credit policies, and not be subject to political and governmental influence, but must at the same time be accountable for their performance. Given that central banks are not part of the three branches of government, their accountability is challenging. Therefore, in the present paper, the concept of accountability of central bank is considered as one of the means of controlling and evaluating its performance. In this way, the concept and characteristics of accountability of central banks as well as mechanisms of accountability to executive, legislative and judicial branches of government are expressed and transparency of central bank is analyzed in response to accountability. Finally, a comparative review of accountability in Iran and the United States is being considered, and it is concluded that in the legal system of Iran, there is no mechanism for accountability of central bank and it lacks transparency.