BNR is 3-6 months behind the real economy

One of the top players on the transaction market, investment banker Doru Lionachescu, says that the National Bank of Romania (BNR) has not been in line with the country's evolution amid the global crisis.

Lionachescu, currently Managing Partner of Capital Partners, who was involved in the start-up of ING Bank in Romania, and worked for lenders Citibank and Bancpost, said that BNR erred when it applied the new lending rules, aimed to curb lending and consumption, when the financial crisis was already affecting Romania.

"The inter-bank market is currently blocked, and lending has stopped. BNR's anti-speculative action was useless, I did not understand it. Hungary's [central bank] governor was not interested in defending the forint when it was attacked. If the leu is over or under-valuated, it is up to the market to say so. This is not the role of BNR.

This ambition of BNR to defeat the assault of foreign banks is like something out of an operetta, Lionachescu told Business Standard. He said that tension between lenders and the central bank is not healthy. "I am not saying that one or the other is guilty," he added. Last month, an attack against the leu was registered on the currency market. BNR officials, including Governor Mugur Isarescu, announced that three foreign banks were behind the attack, and criticized their tactics.

Business Standard