The opening of the Irkutsk branch of the State Bank and its main activities in the 1860s-1880s

The paper discussed the establishment of the Irkutsk branch of the State Bank and its main activities in its first decades (the 1860s-1880s). The State Bank had the task of creating a branch network. The opening of the Irkutsk branch in 1865 was considered from this perspective, and its activities were reviewed as the main tool of state regulation of the region’s economy. Based on the materials of the Russian State Historical Archives and the State Archives of Irkutsk region, the author identified that the acceptance of deposits was the first priority for Irkutsk regional bank, but it failed to record promissory notes and issue loans. Lending to the gold industry, the leading sector of the region’s economy, was insufficient. Such a lending practice led to a decrease in the number of the Bank clients (only the largest traders and industrialists of the territory were able to get credits and loans) and hindered the development of regional entrepreneurship.