My speech will endeavour to outline the arguments that support the opt-in decision for Romania, but I believe that, despite the slightly different circumstances, the reasoning also holds true for other non-euro area countries – such as Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic or Bulgaria. General remarks Before dealing with the arguments underpinning our position regarding the Banking Union, let me give you a short account of Romania’s recent economic history that should enable all of you to better understand our particular circumstances. No doubt the crisis has taken its toll on Romania’s economy, given the large imbalances which had been steadily accumulating during the boom years. Whether the crisis has ended or not on the European level is still a matter of debate. What may be said for certain is that Romania undertook the necessary adjustments during the 2009–2012 period and the preconditions for sustainable growth are now in place. Indeed, the outcome of these adjustments may already be seen in the 2013 economic performance, which hopefully marks a turnaround in Romania’s economic development: •  rapid (judged by the current standards in the European Union) economic growth, namely 3.5 percent,  •  sizeable adjustment of the current account deficit, from the double-digit area (between 2006 and 2008) to 1.1 percent,  •  historically low inflation (1.55 percent at the end of the year),  •  fiscal deficit well below 3 percent.
Despite the structural nature of the excess liquidity since 2002, growth of credit to the economy has been relatively moderate (14% in 2008). For a better contribution to the diversification of the economy, banks are expected to enhance their efforts in financing the development of SMEs while further improving credit and operational risk management. BIS Review 21/2009  1  The role of banks in investment financing is crucial given the limited development of the financial markets. The 2009 government budget provides for appropriations to strengthen public banks’ capital base. Government financial support to the public banks (bailing out of public banks’ portfolios and strengthening of their capital assets) averaged 2.6% of GDP for the period 1991-2002 and 1.7% for the period 2005-2006. The Bank of Algeria will continue to pay due attention to potential risks arising from the deepening international financial and economic crisis, particularly risks to the banking sector. In this respect, particular attention will be attached to the flexible use of available monetary policy instruments and to maintaining a flexible exchange rate policy to reflect the economy’s fundamentals. At the same time, banking supervision will continue to be strengthened, in accordance with the ongoing initiatives of the Basel Committee. Following the modernization and consolidation of banks’ reporting system and the recent increase in required minimum capital, sustained efforts are being devoted to strengthen the operational and regulatory frameworks of the banking sector over the first half of 2009 (conformity of bank assets, liquidity and credit risks management, …), in accordance with international standards.