Băsescu lashes out at bankers

President Traian Băsescu accused banks of "impudence" and of the fact that "they deny responsibility for the situation they've brought Romania in". "I will not defend banks, I don't like the way they are denying any responsibility for the situation they've brought Romania in, either. They were the ones giving out loans on the basis of identity cars, they were the ones being warned by the governor and now they are teaching lessons on TV, which is the type of impudence of those who threw Romania's budget off balance and now are teaching lessons," stated Băsescu in an interview with the National Television. He maintains they contributed to the "unhealthy" economic growth of 2007-2008 by releasing loans on the basis of identity cards. As regards the "impudence" mentioned, Băsescu refers to the accusations against the former PNL government on the pension and salary hikes that led to the soaring budgetary gap in the wake of the crisis. When saying that banks are "shouting and teaching us lessons", Băsescu may refer to the unprecedented criticism recently voiced by the head of Erste Group, Andreas Treichl, against the economic policy of Boc-led government. Domestic bankers have not formulated any criticism lately. As a matter of fact, the representatives of the banking community chose not to answer Băsescu's statements.