The National Bank of Romania ( ro, Banca Națională a României, BNR) is the

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central ba ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and was established in April 1880. Its headquarters are located in the capital city of

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. The National Bank of Romania is responsible for the issue of the Romanian leu and as such it sets the monetary policy, holds the currency reserves and manages the exchange rate.

History

The bank's first governor was

Ion Câmpineanu An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...

. Eugeniu Carada is associated to the National Bank, as he was the founder of the bank and he was elected director of the bank, but he never accepted the role of

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. In 1916, in the wake of the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

' invasion, the valuables of the National Bank of Romania, together with many other valuables (the

Romanian Treasure The Romanian Treasure ( ro, Tezaurul României) is a collection of valuable objects and the gold reserves (~120 tonnes) of the Romanian government sent to Russia for safekeeping during World War I. After the Romanian Army entered Bessarabia, at ...

) were sent to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

for safekeeping, but were never returned (except for the Pietroasele treasure - now on display at the

National Museum of Romanian History The National History Museum of Romania ( ro, Muzeul Național de Istorie a României) is a museum located on the Calea Victoriei in Bucharest, Romania, which contains Romanian historical artifacts from prehistoric times up to modern times. The mus ...

, the numismatic collection of the National Bank, some paintings and archives). On 28 July 1959, an armed group of six

Jewish Romanian The history of the Jews in Romania concerns the Jews both of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is present-day Romanian territory. Minimal until the 18th century, the size of the Jewish population increased after ...

, members of the

Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ro, Partidul Comunist Român, , PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that woul ...

apparatus (the

Ioanid Gang The Ioanid Gang ( ro, Banda Ioanid) is the name given by Communist propaganda to a group in Communist Romania named after two of its members, Alexandru and Paul Ioanid. They were accused of carrying out on 28 July 1959 the most famous bank robbery ...

: Alexandru Ioanid, Paul Ioanid, Igor Sevianu, Monica Sevianu, Sașa Mușat and Haralambie Obedeanu) were alleged to have stolen from an armored car of the National Bank of Romania 1,600,000 lei (about 250,000 U.S. dollars at 1959 prices). It was allegedly the most famous bank robbery in the

Eastern bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

. Beyond accusations based on various ideological guidelines, no reasons for the alleged robbery, or for the Ioanid group to have perpetrated it, were ever given at the trial. Although the persons on trial were accused of intending to donate the money to Zionist organizations that would send Romanian Jews to Israel, the stolen sum was in lei, which at the time could not be exchanged for hard currency anywhere in the world. All these aspects, together with the numerous cases of sentences based on false accusations, have led most persons to doubt that any robbery actually took place or that those charged with the crime committed it.

Architecture

The Old BNR Palace

The head office of the National Bank of Romania with the view of Lipscani Street is one of the most imposing and massive bank edifices in Romania, nowadays a historic, art monument, and protected as such. It was erected on the former site of the inn built by

Șerban Cantacuzino Șerban Cantacuzino (), (1634/1640 – 29 October 1688) was a Prince of Wallachia between 1678 and 1688. Life and career Cantacuzino took part in the Ottoman campaign which ended in their defeat at the Battle of Vienna. According to Gaster (191 ...

(1678–1688). On 26 February 1882, architects Cassien Bernard and Albert Galleron were assigned the task to blueprint the BNR Palace. The construction of the building in the eclectic style of the late 19th century, with some neo-classical elements, proceeded between 12 July 1884 (when the foundation stone was laid) and June 1890 under the direction of the architect engineer Nicolae Cerchez assisted by architect E. Băicoianu.

The New BNR Palace

With the façade on Doamnei Street, the new wing of the BNR Palace was built during World War II, after having laid the foundation stone back in 1937. The construction works carried on between 1942-44 under the direction of architect Ion Davidescu assisted by two other architects, Radu Dudescu and N. Crețoiu. The building is emblematic of the neo-classical style with rationalist influences that prevailed in the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

. It impresses by the monumental granite stairs, the huge

Corinthian columns The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order w ...

forming the façade, and the large, white marble-coated halls inside the building.

Responsibilities

The main tasks of the National Bank of Romania are the following: * to define and implement the monetary policy and the exchange rate policy; * to conduct the authorisation, regulation and prudential supervision of credit institutions and to promote and oversee the smooth operation of the payment systems with a view to ensuring financial stability; * to issue banknotes and coins as legal tender on the territory of Romania; * to set the exchange rate regime and to supervise its observance; * to manage the official reserves of Romania.

Gallery

National Bank of Romania - panoramio.jpg Banco Nacional de Rumanía, Bucarest, Rumanía, 2016-05-29, DD 51.jpg Banca Naţională a României - panoramio.jpg BNR - clădirea nouă.jpg Bucuresti, Romania, Banca Nationala a Romaniei;(ziua) B-II-m-A-18588.JPG 20140818 București 063.jpg Bucuresti, Romania, Banca Nationala a Romaniei (noaptea) (2); B-II-m-A-18588.JPG Palatul Bancii Nationale Corp Nou 03.jpg Bucharest Day 2 - Doamnei (9337942406).jpg

References

External links

* {{National banks of Europe Central banks României Companies based in Bucharest Lipscani