the principles of international financial reporting standards. thus, the implementation of these standards at individual level by credit institutions in romania has taken a graduated approach. at consolidated level, i. e. banking groups, the international financial reporting standards have been transposed via a seamless approach ; the nbr exerted its national options embedded in the acquis, but included all credit institutions, not only the listed ones, in the scope of applicability. in 2010, the national bank of romania adopted the strategy for ifrs implementation by credit institutions starting with the 2012 financial year. for its implementation, the updating of the accounting regulatory framework was completed and steps were taken to ensure bis central bankers ’ speeches transition towards the new standards. thus, credit institutions will prepare and present action plans whose implementation will be monitored by the central bank throughout the remainder of this year. also in the first half of 2011, the financial reporting framework suiting the needs of the supervisory authority was updated. the national bank of romania, in its capacity as an authority responsible for prudential supervision of the banking system, has recently prepared and sent for public consultation the bills needed to elicit accounting figures reported by banks so that they match the banks ’ prudential objectives. i trust this endeavour aimed at broadening the scope of applicability of such standards, serving as the basis for accounting and for preparing individual financial statements by credit institutions in romania, should be seen as a sine qua non condition to secure effective supervision of the romanian banking system. let me stress that the importance of implementing the international financial reporting standards by credit institutions in romania is also reflected by the new financing agreements signed with international institutions ( the european commission, the international monetary fund, the world bank ). i am confident that you experts have now a good opportunity for an in - depth analysis of the evolution of the international accounting system and the problems arising in the implementation of international financial reporting standards, as well as for a useful projection of the major challenges to implementing the new accounting standards by the banking sector in romania, given its importance in achieving a modern and efficient accounting system. let me reiterate on this occasion our institution ’ s willingness to cooperate with stakeholders in the implementation of international financial reporting standards by the banking sector. i trust that any problems relating to the introduction of the new accounting rules will be resolved in a timely manner so that the current transition ends successfully. last but not least, my appreciation goes to the representatives of the institute of chartered

. by contrast, adopting a currency board more than two decades ago, during a crisis, bulgaria shifted to a fixed exchange rate regime, out of which the only exit strategy is joining the euro area. what we need in order to move forward on the convergence path towards euro adoption is, first of all, to understand there is no substitute for a coherent economic policy mix, which should remain so even in election years. we need economic convergence, but the process should be a balanced one, so as to preserve macroeconomic equilibria and safeguard competitiveness. it is important that europe remains united. therefore, i want to pay homage to baron snoy, who has been instrumental in promoting romania ’ s and bulgaria ’ s further integration into the economic and monetary union. i have known him since the first event we hosted in june 2011, and have always found in him not only a wise man, dedicated to the european project, but also a friend of romania, with a vast knowledge of our history and culture. he has also played an important role in bringing together europhile experts that are trying to find solutions to the daunting issues facing europe nowadays. allow me to also extend a word of gratitude to radu deac, the chairman of elec romania since its establishment, for his steady contribution to promote romania in europe and europe in romania. it is not that the eurozone does not have its own problems, yet the strengthening of its governance framework is what one may call “ work in progress ”. it is our duty, i think, to keep believing in the european project, as the only valid one for securing peace and prosperity on our continent. as i have previously stated, whenever obstacles emerge, i cannot help recalling the words of jean monnet, one of the eu founding fathers : “ europe will be forged in crises and will be the sum of the solutions adopted for those crises ”. i trust that this conference, which has a lot of outstanding panellists, will address those problems as well. among the speakers, i am particularly pleased to see jeffrey franks, another old friend of romania, with whom we had a fruitful co - operation in the past. on this note, allow me to finish and wish every success to the works of this conference. thank you. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches