Romanian National Bank Governor calls on bankers to prove cautious and consider a milder economic growth in the future

Bankers must prove cautious despite the international financial crisis has not affected banks in Romania and should stay away from the illusion they can transfer all credit risks to their clients, Romanian National Bank (BNR) governor Mugur Isarescu said on Tuesday, quoted by Romanian news agency Newsin.

He said bankers should consider a milder economic growth in the future and said the most important challenges the Romanian banking system would face are a responsible evaluation of risks and a proper training of work force in the sector.

He said the Romanian banking system was not affected by the financial crisis because the economy was going through an expansion phase, but warned that banks should consider the moment when the economic growth would no longer be as strong as it is now.

The statements coma as an IMF official said on Tuesday that the economic growth in Romania would calm down to 5-6% next year. The credit market boost starts to show signs of slowing down and may lead the economic growth to also slow down from 8% this year to 5-6% in 2009, IMF regional representative Juan-Jose Fernandez-Ansola told Reuters, quoted by Newsin.