Valentin Lazea: The lessons of the crisis have been forgotten too quickly

On Friday, Valentin Lazea, chief economist of the National Romanian National (NBR), said that Romania had an economic crisis, not a financial one, said Valentin Lazea on Friday. He added that the lessons of the crisis were too quickly forgotten by banks and by borrowers alike", referring to the trends of borrowing in Euros in Romania.

The NBR recently launched a new set of regulations concerning loans intended for individuals, in order to limit borrowing in foreign currencies by individuals that have income denominated in lei.

Mr. Lazea said that the regulation concerns placing restrictions on "loans for individuals that aren"t hedged against the foreign exchange risk, in other words those whose revenues aren"t denominated in foreign currencies". The document also limits the maximum maturity for consumer loans at five years, and requires a guarantee of at least 133% of the amount of the loan.

Mr. Lazea has also said that in our case "consumption should play a moderate role (in economic growth - ed. note) and said that "it is an important part of the GDP".

• Lazea: The Eurobonds are not a solution for the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis

The Eurobonds do not represent a solution to the Eurozone debt crisis, and at the present time they are null and void, said Valentin Lazea, quoted by Agerpres.

"As for the Eurobonds, I share Germany"s opinion, that they are inappropriate at the moment, because of two very simple reasons. The first reason would be that if it were actually resorted to Eurobonds, any motivation for the Southern Europe countries to reform would disappear and this is not the goal. That is not the way to correct imbalances, by allowing the use of Eurobonds that would shift the burden from the undisciplined to the disciplined", said Lazea. According to the quoted source, the second reason was the fact that the Eurobonds issue would involve amending the European treaties, which is a lengthy process. "Under these circumstances, I do not see the Eurobonds as a possible solution", the official of the NBR said.