National Bank of Romania
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Headquarters | Bucharest |
Established | April, 1880 |
President | (Governor) Mugur Isărescu |
Central Bank of | Romania |
Currency | |
-ISO 4217 Code | RON |
Reserves | 21,151.1 milions € (October 2006) |
Printer(s) | The Printer of the National Bank of Romania |
Mint(s) | Monetăria Statului |
Website |
The National Bank of Romania (Romanian: Banca Naţională a României; Acronym: BNR) is the central bank of Romania and was established in April 1880. Its first governor was Eugeniu Carada; the incumbent is Mugur Isărescu.
In 1916, in the wake of the Central Powers' invasion, the valuables of the National Bank of Romania, together with many other valuables (the Romanian Treasure) were sent to Moscow for safekeeping, but were never returned (except for the Pietroasa Treasure - now on display at the National Museum of Romanian History, the numismatic collection of the National Bank, some paintings and archives).
On July 28, 1959, an armed group of six Jewish intellectuals and members of the Romanian Communist Party apparatus (the Ioanid Gang: Alexandru Ioanid, Paul Ioanid, Igor Sevianu, Monica Sevianu, Saşa Muşat and Haralambie Obedeanu) stole from an armored car of the National Bank of Romania 1,600,000 lei (about 250,000 U.S. dollars at 1959 prices). It was probably the most scandalous bank robbery in the Eastern bloc.