BUCHAREST — Mugur Isărescu has relocated the entire Romanian economy to the village of Călimănești, where a permanent honour guard of central bank clerks now inspects every leu before it is allowed to circulate, the National Bank announced on Tuesday.
The governor said the measure was necessary because macroeconomic equilibria cannot be safeguarded from an office. «We tried guarding the equilibria from Bucharest, but they kept drifting,» Isărescu told reporters. «Now each leu passes through the village gate, and if it is not balanced, it is sent back.»
The relocation has transformed Călimănești. A new customs post has been built on the main road, where trucks carrying inflation are turned away at the border. The village school now teaches fiscal consolidation as a practical subject, and the local bakery has begun stamping each loaf with its contribution to the current account.
Residents have adapted. «I used to walk to the shop,» said one. «Now I walk to the shop and back, and the walk itself is counted as convergence.» The mayor has requested that the village be granted the status of a macroeconomic reserve.
Isărescu said the arrangement will continue until the euro is adopted. «We are not in a hurry,» he said. «The equilibria are comfortable here. They have a view of the Olt.»