mugur isarescu : the 39th meeting of the central banks governors ’ club of the central asia, black sea region and balkan countries speech by mr mugur isarescu, governor of the national bank of romania, at the conference " the 39th meeting of the central banks governors'club of the central asia, black sea region and balkan countries ", bodrum, turkey, 14 may 2018. * * * dear colleagues, let me start by saying that i am honoured to have been invited to speak here, in beautiful bodrum, at the 39th meeting of the central banks governors ’ club of the central asia, black sea region and balkan countries. our club includes central banks from eu countries, some already in the eurozone, while others belong to countries outside the eu. some of the members in our group come from countries that have enormous economic potential and belong to g20, which has become an essential part of the architecture that has fostered international debate on financial and economic issues after the crisis. this is why our club reflects quite interestingly the constellation of political and economic interests that defines our world. this meeting comes at a time when the international landscape is dominated by an overall positive mood, on the economic front at least, even though, recently, a number of downside risks have become more apparent. in the european union, economic growth reached in 2017 its postcrisis peak, with most member states witnessing higher gdp dynamics. at the same time, unemployment continued on a downward path and economic sentiment improved across the board. some recent signals point to a slowdown, yet they seem to have more to do with temporary influences, growth prospects continuing to look strong. the past year recorded, on average, positive developments in eu candidate and potential candidate countries as well, in spite of gdp dynamics delivering a more mixed picture ( from over 7 percent in turkey to around 2 percent in serbia and even stagnation in the former yugoslav republic of macedonia ). nevertheless, the outlook is positive, with recent forecasts pointing to relatively robust growth in the coming years. however, against this relatively rosy background, i should highlight that our economies, even those that belong to the eurozone, have still much to do in order to become robust and offer good living standards to most of their citizens. some members of this club, romania included, had to go through very painful adjustments during the past decade, as the global crisis found them trapped in a pro - cyclical policy stance and it remains to be

mugur isarescu : inflation targeting - international experience and romania ’ s prospects speech by mr mugur isarescu, governor of the national bank of romania, at the conference on inflation targeting, bucharest, 30 march 2005. * * * ladies and gentlemen, i would like to begin by extending a very warm welcome to you to the national bank of romania. it is a great honor for me to open the conference “ inflation targeting : international experience and romania ’ s prospects ”. i would like to add that i am particularly pleased that such distinguished guests agreed to join us today and share some of their insights regarding inflation targeting. this spring marks an important moment in our history : in april 1880, the national bank of romania was established, and became the 19th central bank in the world ; now, 125 years later, our central bank is getting ready to become the 19th ( plus 3 ) inflation targeter. for a few years now, the national bank of romania considered inflation targeting to be the monetary policy framework suitable for the timeframe between achieving single digit inflation and joining the erm ii. my confidence in inflation targeting stems from my belief that price stability should be the primary goal of monetary policy and that there is full long run compatibility between this objective and economic growth. this has been proved by successful inflation targeting experiences of numerous countries, regardless of the level of economic development. although i see why it is difficult to define inflation targeting, i consider the definition given by ben bernanke as being the appropriate one. accordingly, inflation targeting is “ a framework for monetary policy characterised by the public announcement of official quantitative targets [ … ] for the inflation rate over one or more time horizons, and by explicit acknowledgement that low, stable inflation is monetary policy ’ s primary long - run goal. among other important features of inflation targeting are vigorous efforts to communicate with the public about the plans and objectives of the monetary authorities, and, in many cases, mechanisms that strengthen the central bank ’ s accountability for attaining these objectives. ” the definition can be wrapped up by adding instrument independence for the central bank and the lack of an explicit intermediate target, as all factors affecting inflation are taken into consideration. an important feature of inflation targeting is the need for accountability of the central bank. within the inflation targeting framework, this is enhanced by the public announcement and commitment to attain an inflation target. the explicit target and the public and transparent nature of inflation targeting also enable the central bank to withstand political pressures more easily and to overcome