mugur isrescu : 30 years of partnership between the world bank group and romania speech by mr mugur isrescu, governor of the national bank of romania, at the 30 years of partnership between the world bank group and romania event, bucharest, 7 november 2022. * * * vice president bjerde, directors vincelette, akhalkatsi and karadsheh, prime minister of romania, vice - chairman of the senate, vice - chairman of the chamber of deputies, presidential adviser, your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, next month we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the accession of romania to the world bank and the international monetary fund ( imf ) in 1972. romania was the first among the countries of the former communist bloc that joined the international financial institutions. unfortunately, during the 1980s the authorities in bucharest had weakened the relationship between romania and these two institutions, almost close to severing all ties. the normalization of the relationship, after the fall of the communist regime, led to a new beginning. the opening of the world bank's office in october 1991 – the moment we are celebrating today – signifies a milestone that marked the start of a new historical point of reference in romania's relations with the world bank and our transition towards a market economy. the 1990s were perhaps the most difficult ones. we had benefited from the direct support of the imf and the world bank. i recall that, shortly after my appointment as governor in september 1991, i received, from a world bank expert, the first report regarding the transition from a mono - banking system, common to a centrally planned economy, to the two - tiered banking system ( central banks – commercial banks ) we have in place today. truth be told, if i were to mention all the partners and friends from the world bank, with whom i have worked over the past 30 years, i would exceed my allotted time. the world bank provided support on multiple fronts. this has been highlighted by the previous speakers and i will not repeat what has already been said. however, there is something that i would like to emphasize. the transition from a centralized economy to a market economy entailed not only loans and financing, but also new laws, building new institutions and good practices. access to the world bank knowledge and expertise helped romania to implement the reforms that followed. 1 / 2 bis - central bankers'speeches in this context, i would mention two of the world bank's programs,

ewart s williams : lessons from the financial crisis address by mr ewart s williams, governor of the central bank of trinidad and tobago, at the launch of the ansa euro income fund, port - of - spain, 17 november 2009. * * * i am pleased to participate in this ceremony this evening, not to endorse the merits of any particular product, since obviously ; it is not something that the central bank as regulator could do. instead, i want to commend this initiative which, to me, in this challenging economic environment, represents a vote of confidence in the economy and another step towards the development of the capital market. it is certainly a positive note against the background of the negative hum that has overwhelmed us for the past several months. globally, the negative news has been around for much longer – for more than eighteen months or so, following the financial meltdown that has been attributed to a variety of factors, and the sharp global recession that ensued. even now when there are signs of recovery, we have become so jaded that most projections are now accompanied by a series of caveats in which the downside risks are given equal prominence. now in the us, uk and eurozone there are signs of recovery – green shoots, we are told – but we are advised not to rule out the possibility of a double - dip recession, meaning another likely downturn in 2010, or an l - shaped recession, meaning that we may just face a prolonged period of slow, tepid growth or virtual stagnation. i guess the cautiousness that now engulfs policy makers in the advanced economies is, in part, a reflection of how far they have come : how close we have been to a collapse of the global financial system and how deep the recession has been in several of the advanced countries. i guess that the concerns that now pervade the developed countries also have to do with the recognition of the colossal re - balancing that is taking place in the world – a re - balancing that has meant a shift in the poles of global growth from the us and europe and for a while japan, to the new powers – china and india and the smaller economies in asia along with one or two emerging market countries in latin america, like brazil and chile. the caribbean, including us here in trinidad and tobago, has also had more than its share of bad news. up the islands, tourism is sharply down and with unemployment in the us topping 10 per cent, workers