HUMBLE, BUT FILLED WITH ARROGANCE  NBR governor disregards his own advice

NBR governor Mugur Isărescu apparently ignores the fact that banks are refusing to negotiate with their customers and insists, after the passing of the law of giving in payment, that the parties of the loan agreement should negotiate: "Negotiation is the basis of the functioning of the market economy, in the European Union, because that is where we are living. Romania was and has been a loyal partner to the European project and we should not forget that".

It is well know that for two years, when the crisis of Swiss franc loans has begun, most of the commercial banks did not follow the repeated advice of the NBR governor to negotiate with their customers.

Mugur Isărescu yesterday reiterated the exhortation he has addressed to banks many times - to abandon their arrogance.

In the same speech in which he offered that advice, the NBR governor demonstrated arrogance himself, even though he apparently had a humble approach.

Mugur Isărescu thought that a financial newspaper, which was criminally prosecuted on tax evasion, was well placed to disseminate the complicated messages of the finance sector, to the level of comprehension of the public.

The head of the central bank mentioned that it is important for the messages referring to financial stability, economic sustainability to reach the public: "It is important for the messages to go beyond the narrow circle of experts. We talk here (at conferences -ed. note) and on other media channels, we are talking about something else. It is a matter of rating: what people in this country are concerned with. It is not easy to get on TV with things that are boring to the population. We can't keep endlessly blaming financial education because we are accusing ourselves, if we can't break this vicious cycle".

Speaking about disseminating to the public the complex messages in the finance sector, concerning the connection between the sovereign rating and the country's borrowing costs, Mugur Isărescu said: "Certainly, institutions such as the ones that organized today's conference, (Coface and a financial newspaper - ed. note) are well placed to bring these details to the attention of the public".

Isărescu had previously said that the country's sovereign rating can be negatively influenced by measures that undermine contractual discipline, market discipline or financial discipline, but the connection between the rating and the state's borrowing cost is not sufficiently well explained to the public at large.

Isărescu found it fit to speak about financial, payment or contractual discipline, without having any issues with the fact that one of the organizers of the conference that he was speaking at was speaking about was a publication charged with tax evasion, which had not paid its loan installments to ING Bank for years on end.

The perpetual rollover of the debt to ING Bank would probably not have happened, for 15 since the loan was taken out, if the borrower (Adrian Sârbu) hadn't been a famous peddler of media influence, who was always granted tolerance when it came to paying his state taxes, in exchange for the influence of a TV station that he doesn't lead anymore.