Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said that the Romanian banking system shows no “sign of weakness” following the U.S. financial crisis. However, he indicated that this will have an indirect impact on the country, leading to lower liquidity and more expensive lending. “The National Bank of Romania [BNR] was a very cautious guardian, resorting to the use of control and supervision tools, and applying a firm hand on the banking system,” Tariceanu added.
However, Finance Minister Varujan Vosganian demonstrated greater concern in terms of the impact of the crisis. “Romania must be on permanent alert regarding the external balance and supervision of financial and banking markets. We must be careful of liquidities, especially because several international groups could restrict bank liquidities on the Romanian market,” Vosganian said.
Analysts indicated that “the last chance” of Paulson’s bailout plan is to be voted in the Senate in the coming days. “If the plan is approved, markets will quiet down for a while in Europe,” analyst Daniel Daianu said. BNR’s Chief Economist Valentin Lazea estimates that the plan “will be returned to Congress and passed, and that the crisis will settle in a few days.” The alternative is “a time of turbulence, withdrawals from capital markets, depreciations of currencies, and worldwide inflation,” added Lazea.
“I hope there is a backup plan, because otherwise the impact will be very harsh on the U.S. economy. Either they redraw it or improve it, or they include better terms for the U.S. taxpayer. Otherwise the U.S. economy could come close to a recession, as will the global economy, especially in Asia and Europe,” said the Chief Economist of Romania’s largest lender, Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR), said.
