The National Bank of Belgium is the Belgian member of the Eurosystem. It was established by a law of 5 May 1850 and has been the monetary authority for Belgium from then until 1998, issuing the Belgian franc.

The Eurosystem is the monetary authority of the eurozone, the collective of European Union member states that have adopted the euro as their sole official currency. The European Central Bank (ECB) has, under Article 16 of its Statute, the exclusive right to authorise the issuance of euro banknotes. Member states can issue euro coins, but the amount must be authorised by the ECB beforehand.