Founding of National Bank of Romania

The National Bank of Romania is the central bank of Romania, established in Bucharest in the reign of King Carol I, when the country had recently gained full independence from the Ottoman Empire and was modernising its economy. It was given the exclusive right to issue banknotes and became the main instrument of the state's monetary policy, including management of the leu, the national currency. The bank passed through two world wars and the nationalisation under the communist regime, and became independent again after 1989. Romania joined the European Union in 2007, and the National Bank forms part of the European System of Central Banks, though the leu has not yet been replaced by the euro.

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