Isărescu recommends investing in gold

The governor of the Central Bank, Mugur Isărescu, advises the population to lose the fear of investing in gold, alluding to the communist period, when owning gold was punished with prison.

"We need to shed the fear of losing gold, to lose the fear of holding < roosters > (ed. note: gold coin), which reminds people of the 50s, when almost one million people were jailed or beaten because they owned gold", said Isărescu, referring to the former 20 frank coins, which weighed 24 carats, had the Gaelic rooster on one side and the possession of which was forbidden.

Mugur Isărescu said that the treasury of the National Bank exists in full: "The treasury exists. The gold exists. The treasury is there to give confidence in our country and in our national currency", said the governor of the NBR, during a symposium concerning the works for the restoration of the old headquarters of the Romanian Central Bank.

The only local bank that sells gold to retail customers, Piraeus Bank, saw a significant increase in demand for gold, as the month of July was the most "crowded" of the nine months that passed since the bank entered this niche.

The perspective of the rise of inflation after the raise of the VAT has determined many people to turn to the safest investment in troubled times, gold, as the sales of the bank increased 40%, with customers buying over 8 kg of gold in ingots.

At the same time, at the end of June, Romania"s gold reserve stood steady at 103.7 tons, and given the evolution of the price of gold on the international market, its value stood at 3.37 billion Euros.

A gram of gold is currently worth around 130 lei, according to the price set by the NBR.