BUCHAREST, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The re-elected Romanian National Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu said on Wednesday that preparing the country to enter the Eurozone is the main task of the new board of directors he leads.
"This is a board where continuity combines with novelty, experience blends with youth," said Isarescu after Parliament appointed in a joint session the members to the new board of directors.
According to him, this new board will make every effort, use its entire professional capability to fulfill the mandate that is entrusted to it.
"This new mandate entails preparing Romania to entry the Eurozone. We have a mandate that I dare call ambitious, with many challenges, but we will use our full capabilities to bring it to fruition," he added.
The parliament held a joint session of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies in which the members to the central bank's board of directors were approved for a term of five years, with Isarescu getting 300 votes for and 15 against.
Isaruscu, who will celebrate his 80th birthday on Aug. 1, took the helm of the central bank in September 1990 and was re-elected several times to remain in this position, with the exception of an eleven months period in 1999-2000, during which he served as Prime Minister of Romania.
In 2009, Isarescu, with his then 19 years term, was named as the longest-serving governor of a central bank by World Records Academy based in Miami.
He was also awarded the title of "Best Central Bank Governor" in 2002 by UK-based magazine The Banker.