Romania's Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader Liviu Dragnea and PSD senator Şerban Nicolae have submitted a project to change the law on the statute of Romania's National Bank (BNR) with the aim of holding at least 85% of the country’s gold reserves on the national territory.

Given the unorthodox economic policies pursued by the ruling coalition recently, the proposal — otherwise possibly deserving debate — prompted a wave of criticism and concern. The central bank used the opportunity to stress that its statute cannot be changed with its own consent, implying that the European Central Bank would have a say in this topic. 

The bill would imply that Romania should repatriate most of the gold it holds at the Bank of England (61 tonnes out of the total 104 tonnes, according to Profit.ro).

The authors of the law, quoted by Profit.ro, claim that the move would save some €0.3mn in fees per year, while the central bank argues that the cost of keeping the gold abroad is only RON0.3mn (€64,000).

The same project establishes that the BNR maintains its reserves at a level adequate for Romania’s external transactions. If the reserves are in danger of diminishing, the BNR would have to present a report to the parliament and the government about the causes of the situation, plus recommendations to prevent or remedy the situation, according to the project.

The project is registered to be debated in the Senate under urgent procedures.

BNR governor Mugur Isărescu quoted by Adevarul daily claimed that the gold reserves need to be kept abroad to be validated by international financial institutions, implying that, otherwise, they would be worth nothing for the country’s creditworthiness. In an official statement to Profit.ro, BNR spokesperson Dan Suciu argued that the central bank’s statute (law 312/2004) can't be changed without prior notification of the European Central Bank.