Longest Serving Central Bank Governor-world
record set by Mugur Isarescu
BUCHAREST, Romania -- The Governor of the
Romanian Central Bank, Dr. Mugur Isarescu, 60, has served
as Governor for 19 years-setting the world record for the
Longest
Serving Central Bank Governor.
As governor of the National Bank of Romania,
Mugur Isarescu has coordinated Romania's economic policy
since 1990, being considered by some the "hidden"
Prime Minister of the country.
Many credit the Isarescu's team at the National
Bank for saving Romania's economy from a Bulgarian-type collapse,
raising the national gold and Euro reserves beyond needs,
cutting down inflation to single-digit figures and introducing
the New Leu.
His role in the Romanian economy is compared
with the one of Laszcek Balcerowicz in the implementation
of the Polish reforms.
He is the only Romanian personality that
is a member of the Trilateral Commission. He is also a member
of the Club of Rome and correspondent member for Romania of
the Royal Academy of Economic and Financial Science (Spain).
Dr Isarescu holds a PhD in Economics from
the Academy of Economics, Bucharest, Romania. He also holds
the Doctor Honoris Causa title of five prestigious Romanian
universities.
He is a professor at the Academy of Economics
in Bucharest
(The Faculty of Finance, Insurance, Banks and Stock Exchange)
and President of the Economic, Law, and Sociological Sciences
Section of the Romanian Academy.
He was the prime-minister of Romania
between December 1999 and November 2000.
Although he served only one year as
Prime Minister, Isarescu is considered to have started the
reform process, continued later by Adrian Nastase and Calin
Popescu-Tariceanu.
In 1999, Mugur Isarescu, as Prime Minister, opened
negotiations with the European Union, a process concluded
in late 2007.
Isarescu managed in 19 years of
leadership at the National Bank of Romania to create and maintain
a mysterious aura around the policies of the National Bank,
and many point out that the agenda of the Bank has remained
independent from any Romanian Government.
Mugur Isarescu is the author of numerous
papers, articles and books on economics and winner of a number
of prestigious awards including "Central Banker of the Year"
(The Banker, 2002) and the "Economic Performance Award" (Top
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