Premium
Governor of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) Mugur Isarescu said on Wednesday, after Parliament appointed in a joint session the members to the new BNR board of directors, that BNR is mandated to prepare Romania to enter the Eurozone .
"This is a board where continuity combines with novelty, experience blends with youth, and I believe - by looking at the board's format - this new board will make every effort, use its entire professional capability to fulfill the mandate that is entrusted to it. Our mandate is set by banking legislation, by the BNR statutes, but I would like to add, as I said yesterday in my testimony to the special committees, that we also have a new mandate, decided under the Eurozone accession schedule jointly developed by BNR, the Romanian government , political leaders, and the Romanian Academy, with support from the Presidency. This new mandate entails preparing Romania to entry the Eurozone. We have a mandate that I dare call ambitious, with many challenges, but we will use our full capabilities to bring it to fruition," he said in a press statement at the Parliament House.
About the outgoing board of directors, Isarescu said it was "a board of professionals, of patriots, as well as of pragmatic people who responded in a concrete way to various challenges" facing them.
Asked to explain his endorsement by the majority Social Democratic Party (PSD) despite his criticisms of the government, Isarescu replied that it is the duty of the BNR to warn about the risks of some governmental decisions.
"The job of the BNR is to show the risks of a decision and together with the government to find the best solutions," he said.
At a joint meeting on Wednesday, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate appointed the members to the BNR board of directors. Voting for Isarescu were 300 lawmakers, while voting against him were 15. Also, the number of votes against the other members to the BNR board was 14, at the most.
After a meeting of the ruling coalition on Monday, national chair PSD Viorica Dancila and national chairman of the Alliance of Liberal and Democrats (ALDE), minor at rule, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu announced their support for Isarescu's new term of office as BNR governor.
