As Romania’s financial literacy is the lowest among EU Member States, the National Bank of Romania has devoted special energy to promoting financial knowledge across the country via educational projects in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, universities, academia or other authorities. As regards the forward guidance, I have to say it was not among the preferred options given the specifics of monetary transmission mechanism in Romania, where the struggle was to cope with high currency substitution amid harsh transition from a controlled economy to functional markets and with large capital inflows on the eve of EU accession. Our policy statements such as the Inflation Report, the Financial Stability Report, the Annual Report, besides our regular briefings, conferences or interviews have always offered clear perspectives. Nevertheless, as negative inflation numbers, short lived in our case, popped up, I believe it is important to deepen our understanding and address the causes of the public misperceptions regarding the divergence between actual inflation and that perceived by the public in order to build and strengthen confidence. 3/5  BIS central bankers' speeches  With inflation tamed in the single-digit zone and the Romanian leu fully convertible, the National Bank of Romania’s increased transparency helped to boost the positive perception, strengthening our reputation. On the flipside however, oversized expectations have also emerged, with people demanding answers and solutions from us to all the problems in the economy, hoping that the National Bank of Romania, like all central banks, could make up for the policies that naturally belong to other institutions.

Moreover, as loose or uneven fiscal moves or reckless legislative initiatives hindered the efficiency of the overall macroeconomic policy mix in Romania, the central bank openly voiced its concerns regarding the sustainability and impact on growth potential of such populist measures, triggering harsh criticism from their promoters. The global crisis proved once again that price stability cannot be achieved in the context of  financial instability, whose resolution calls for far more than monetary policy words and deeds and by far more knowledge and confidence. Austerity measures, the recession, slower-than-expected recovery, along with the view that the  banking sector alone is to be blamed for these misfortunes – even though in Romania, unlike elsewhere, no bail-outs were resorted to – created a mood that eroded the high prestige that the National Bank of Romania had enjoyed prior to the crisis. A reputation that had been earned thanks to a more transparent, flexible, effective policy and to a greater openness to the general public. We were not alone. That sentiment became mainstream across the globe, as well. Central bankers are nowadays cornered to deliver more in their countries, to actively punish the offenders of fiduciary and prove more empathic with debtors and, why not, more compliant and tolerant with populist measures that affect the financial sector and macroeconomic stability. Otherwise their independence would be put at risk, as it is already challenged by public representatives.