Olteanu shatters myth that appointments to NBR's Board are based on professional criteria

The approval of the budget-finance parliamentary committees for the candidacy of Bogdan Olteanu, one of the most famous PNL (National Liberal Party) politicians, for the position of NBR deputy governor raises the question whether the Board of Governors of the central bank should only be made up of finance professionals or whether there is also room for politicians.
The politicisation of the Board is something even the NBR's charter as voted by the Parliament in 2004 allows, as it does not condition the Board of Governor membership to monetary or financial expertise and also allows terms to be renewed without any limitations.
The situation is completely different with central banks in Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary, where the legislation expressly stipulates that any candidate needs to be recognised in the financial sector for both their knowledge and experience. Moreover, in Poland and the Czech Republic, the governor may not serve more than two consecutive terms, while Hungary requires a three-year hiatus between terms. These restrictions discourage politicisation of the Boards of Governors, even though in the above-mentioned countries the governor is appointed by the president of the republic, as it also happens in many Western countries, including the US.
The members of the Romanian banking community would not publicly comment on these regulation differences and the result reached after political negotiations.
"The endorsement of Bogdan Olteanu means that anyone who is backed by a political deal can be appointed, which shatters a myth: I knew that appointments to the Board of Directors were based on political criteria, but there was a certain strictness as far as the NBR was concerned and each party backed specialists. Now the professional quality is no longer important even at the NBR, only political support is," a banker commented, who chose to remain anonymous.
During his hearing in the Parliament on Tuesday night, Olteanu said he would not politicise NBR's management, as he only intended to engage in politics only "at night in front of his TV." He said he made the decision to run a while ago, after consulting with a number of people.
Florin Georgescu, first deputy governor of NBR, voted by the parliamentary committees for his second term, came to this position from the political environment in 2004, after having served as finance minister for four years and as chairman of BCR's Supervisory Board. All the other candidates approved by committees, Mugur Isarescu, Cristian Popa, Nicolae Danila, Dinu Marin, Napoleon Pop, Agnes Nagy and Virgil Stoenescu have a relevant financial background, as do the three candidates "rejected": Daniel Daianu, Lucian Croitoru and Silviu Cerna.