Mugur Isărescu has been governor of central bank the National Bank of Romania (NBR) for almost 30 years – apart from a period as prime minister between 1999 and 2000 - having taken the helm in 1990. After communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu was overthrown in December 1989, Mr Isărescu briefly served as an economic and monetary affairs secretary at the Romanian embassy in Washington, before being appointed central bank governor in September 1990. Before that, the now 70-year-old spent close to two decades working at an economics research institute in Bucharest.
“I was a research fellow at the Institute of World Economy in a communist country. We were supposed to report to the leaders of the Communist Party when capitalism will collapse, and actually we saw how communism collapsed,” says Mr Isărescu.
