Cuvântul guvernatorului BNR, acad. Mugur Isărescu, la deschiderea lucrărilor sesiunii „Banca şi oraşul”, 7 iunie 2007
The Speech of the Governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mr. Mugur Isarescu, at the opening of the Session „Bank and Town”, 7th June 2007

Summary/Abstract: Mr. Mugur Isarescu, the Governor of the National Bank of Romania, opened the working session entitled “Bank and Town”. He welcomed all the participants and he mentioned that 2007 had a special meaning for the Romanian Central Bank because it has been 140 years since the creation of the National Modern Monetary System; 127 years since the foundation of National Bank of Romania and 10 years since the re-establishment of the NBR Museum. In the history of Europe, there was a mutual relationship between the town and the bank: the towns offered the framework where the commercial and banking associations appeared, and these contributed to the blooming of urban centres. Along with the establishment of the banks and the stock exchanges inside the walls of the medieval towns, the mentalities of the people changed and started to include a new system of values, a system which focused on the ability of earning money, on the enterprising spirit and on the good estimations which limited the risks that a credible merchant – banker had to avoid. In the modern times, the towns had a decisive contribution to the building of the national markets, the same as the bankers beyond the kings had financed not only the wars, but also they had financially contributed to the proper functioning of the modern administrations. After the Renaissance, when in Italy the city planning notion appeared, the European towns entered a new competition regarding the arranging of the sidewalks, setting up the streetlamps, installing the systems of water distribution, or numbering the houses. Taking part in this competition, Bucharest was the first town in the world which was illuminated with gas, starting with 1857. At the end of the 19th century, the centre of Bucharest had a new aspect, because it was created the financial and banking city, which had as an axis the Old Palace of National Bank of Romania, inaugurated in June 1890. Around this palace there were built many banking and financial buildings of the central banks partners: commercial banks, insurance companies, Stock Exchange and Commercial Chamber. Before the beginning of the Second War World, National Bank of Romania started to build the New Palace from Doamnei street. This palace enriched the financial and banking city of Bucharest. Considering the present interest in the modernisation of Romanian society, the theme “Bank and Town” is very important for historians and for economists too, and Mr. Mugur Isarescu wished good luck for the debates of this session.

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