lustrísimos académicos,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to extend a warm greeting to academician dr. Jaime Gil Aluja, who is leading this group of eminent experts, to Ms. Ana María Lafuente and to academician dr. Ana María Gil Lafuente and to all our distinguished guests. We are honoured to welcome you all to Romania. I am also pleased to welcome our Romanian team, led by academician dr. Valeriu Ioan Franc, together with academician dr. Luminița Chivu. (Slide 1)
I extend my warmest regards to Mr. Petre Roman, the first Prime minister of post-communist Romania, who led the government through the years 1990-1991, one of the most turbulent and demanding periods of our transition — a time when every decision was taken under conditions of extreme uncertainty, without maps, without precedents. What was built in those years, with all its imperfections, laid the foundations of the edifice in which we live today. Judging that period through today's lens is a comfortable exercise; understanding it in its own context is an intellectual duty we owe to truth.
We shall also hear from other former officials. Eugen Dijmărescu was deputy Prime minister in Petre Roman’s cabinet in the early nineties and later, deputy governor of the National Bank of Romania. Varujan Vosganian, also an economist with long-standing experience, was minister of finance during the first years of this century. Both have contributed to several governments and legislatures with significant inputs, which brought changes in Romania’s economic and financial course.
It is a privilege to welcome all of you to the foothills of the Carpathians, here in Sinaia, on the occasion of this gathering that brings together, members of the Real Academia de Ciencias Económicas y Financieras, of the Romanian Academy — Section of Economic, Legal Sciences and Sociology, a Prime minister, two ministers and a couple of young professionals who work at the National Bank of Romania. That a meeting of such intellectual distinction takes place precisely here, in one of the most beautiful settings Romania has to offer, cannot be a coincidence.
Sinaia has always been a place where great ideas feel at home — perhaps because mountain air elevates thought, and the stillness of the fir trees deepens it. I should tell you that the National Bank of Romania has been hosting for almost twenty years, right here in Sinaia, an internationally well-known seminar on financial stability.
The relationship between the Romanian Academy and the Royal Academy of Economic and Financial Sciences is not a matter of protocols or formal exchanges, but of a deep understanding that economics, law and sociology are not general disciplines — they are anthropological disciplines, which gain meaning only when viewed in dialogue and comparison. (Slide 2) Over the years, distinguished members of the Spanish academic community have honoured Romania with their visits; in turn, our colleagues have brought to Barcelona the perspective of an emerging economy that has undergone significant and important transformations. If I remember correctly, this is the third time the two Academies and the National Bank have gathered in an official capacity. Serious institutions recognize one another precisely by the way they cultivate such relationships — with continuity, with depth, without being distracted by the noise of the day.
I wish to confess something personal: my connection to the Royal Academy of Economic and Financial Sciences carries personal gratitude and affection — our ties have been built patiently, through years of genuine academic dialogue, exchanges of ideas, visits and friendships that have enriched everyone involved. (Slide 3)
I remember the first joint scientific session of the Romanian Academy and the Royal Academy on the theme ‘The Two Frontiers of Europe’, which took place in Bucharest on June 20th, 2005, and I presented the dissertation ‘The New and Future Member States. Romania's role in the European Union’.
I fondly recall the day of February 21st, 2008, when you accepted me among the corresponding members of the Royal Academy of Economic and Financial Sciences and I was honoured to address Your Excellencies on ‘Monetary policy issues in an emerging economy. The case of Romania’. (Slide 4, Slide 5)
There have been several other interesting and fruitful meetings between members of the two Academies and the National Bank of Romania along the years in Bucharest, Sibiu and Păltiniș.
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to briefly address this seminar’s topic.
My professional life has coincided with one of the most dramatic and fascinating periods of transformation in the history of the world economy and monetary matters, I entered the National Bank of Romania in an era when transactions were recorded in handwritten ledgers, when the exchange rate was an abstraction managed administratively, and cash was the only monetary reality the ordinary citizen knew and understood. I then lived through, step by step, the digital revolution: the bank card, the internet, mobile payments, central bank digital currencies. Today, a person can pay for a coffee, transfer money abroad, or take out a loan without ever touching a banknote.
As the ECB and the European central banks have been lately debating the adoption of a digital currency, I sometimes wonder whether we truly understand the magnitude of this transformation — and whether central banks, including our own, are sufficiently agile to manage it without losing what matters most: stability, trust, and the protection of the citizen. I do not have any definitive answers yet. But I am firmly convinced that dialogue between solid institutions, with different experiences and traditions, is the best antidote to the illusion that we know everything. Thus, I acknowledge and look forward to learning what Your Excellencies are about to present.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Those who know me are aware that I cannot resist the temptation to invoke history. Sinaia is not merely a mountain resort with clean air and breathtaking views. It is, above all, a place with memory. At the end of the seventeenth century, the Romanian nobleman Mihail Cantacuzino returned from a pilgrimage to Saint Ekaterina monastery, at the foothills of Mount Sinai and founded here, in this clearing in the Carpathians, a monastery bearing the name of that distant holy place. Two centuries later, Romania's first king, Carol I, fell in love with the place and built Peleş Castle — an architectural jewel and a symbol of Romania's aspiration toward modernity and European belonging. (Slide 6) The Castle and Pelişor, the Casino, the hotels and villas of that era form today an unforgettable ensemble, which I warmly invite you to discover — or rediscover — during your stay. Some of the best ideas are not born in front of a presentation screen, but on a stroll among the fir trees, in free conversation, far from the noise of daily life.
As I have been referring to historical facts, I would like to end my brief address by evoking a moment of recent sporting history with deep resonances in the memory of both our peoples. We have spoken of Barcelona — the city where the Royal Academy of Economic and Financial Sciences has its home, one of Europe's great cultural and economic centers and its famous football club. There is indeed a moment when Bucharest and Barcelona faced each other on the greatest sporting stage - the 1986 European Cup Final. Steaua București won that trophy, in Seville, on penalty kicks — an unexpected, extraordinary victory that remains imprinted in the hearts of millions of Romanians. As a token of remembrance of that historic evening and of the friendship that unites us, we offer to our Spanish guests a commemorative coin issued by the National Bank of Romania, dedicated to that event — a small collector's item, but the bearer of a great shared story. (Slide 7)
I wish you fruitful debates, lasting connections, and a stay that will remain with you as a warm memory.
Thank you! Gracias!