The approval of the budget-finance parliamentary committees forthe candidacy of Bogdan Olteanu, one of the most famous PNL(National Liberal Party) politicians, for the position of NBRdeputy governor raises the question whether the Board of Governorsof the central bank should only be made up of finance professionalsor whether there is also room for politicians.
The politicisation of the Board is something even the NBR's charteras voted by the Parliament in 2004 allows, as it does not conditionthe Board of Governor membership to monetary or financial expertiseand 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 expresslystipulates that any candidate needs to be recognised in thefinancial sector for both their knowledge and experience. Moreover,in Poland and the Czech Republic, the governor may not serve morethan two consecutive terms, while Hungary requires a three-yearhiatus between terms. These restrictions discourage politicisationof the Boards of Governors, even though in the above-mentionedcountries the governor is appointed by the president of therepublic, as it also happens in many Western countries, includingthe US.
The members of the Romanian banking community would not publiclycomment on these regulation differences and the result reachedafter political negotiations.
"The endorsement of Bogdan Olteanu means that anyone who is backedby a political deal can be appointed, which shatters a myth: I knewthat appointments to the Board of Directors were based on politicalcriteria, but there was a certain strictness as far as the NBR wasconcerned and each party backed specialists. Now the professionalquality is no longer important even at the NBR, only politicalsupport is," a banker commented, who chose to remainanonymous.
During his hearing in the Parliament on Tuesday night, Olteanu saidhe would not politicise NBR's management, as he only intended toengage in politics only "at night in front of his TV." He said hemade the decision to run a while ago, after consulting with anumber of people.
Florin Georgescu, first deputy governor of NBR, voted by theparliamentary committees for his second term, came to this positionfrom the political environment in 2004, after having served asfinance minister for four years and as chairman of BCR'sSupervisory Board. All the other candidates approved by committees,Mugur Isarescu, Cristian Popa, Nicolae Danila, Dinu Marin, NapoleonPop, Agnes Nagy and Virgil Stoenescu have a relevant financialbackground, as do the three candidates "rejected": Daniel Daianu,Lucian Croitoru and Silviu Cerna.
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