Isărescu: Maintaining the Rating by Fitch and Moody's Was the Right Decision

The Governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mugur Isărescu, stated on Thursday, at the presentation of the August 2026 Inflation Report, that the decisions by rating agencies Fitch and Moody's to maintain the country's sovereign rating were correct and did not represent a favour granted to Romania.

"The final decision reached by both Fitch and Moody's was the right one. It was not, so to speak, a favour or a kindness done to Romania," Isărescu declared. He explained that the procedure followed was entirely normal, comparable to the way negotiations with the International Monetary Fund used to be conducted in the past, when IMF representatives would discuss matters with all departments within the National Bank before publishing a final report.

"It was not possible for a country that had made a fiscal correction of over 2% to be penalised"

The NBR Governor emphasised that the scale of the fiscal correction achieved by Romania, of over 2% of GDP, justifies the maintenance of the rating. He said it is to be expected that a measure of such magnitude would generate social and political tensions.

"It was not possible for a country that had made a fiscal correction of over 2% to be penalised in this way. It was too much… When you make a correction of 2% of GDP, you should expect to face social and political tensions. It is no easy matter," Isărescu stated.

He praised the professionalism of the negotiating teams from the Ministry of Finance, the Fiscal Council, and the National Bank, noting that he has been working with rating agencies since 1992–1993 and that he publicly commends the way in which the current generation of negotiators has handled the discussions.

Isărescu warned, however, that ill-considered political statements can affect the way rating agencies and investors perceive Romania. He cited as an example the period leading up to euro area accession in 2014, when there were discussions about reducing VAT immediately after the announcement regarding eurozone membership. "Words, especially when spoken at a certain level, carry more weight than actions. So, be mindful of public statements," he said, adding that the messages conveyed in the public sphere must be more carefully weighed, otherwise "we will come to regret it".

Isărescu on Romania's credibility: "We must continue this correction"

When asked whether Romania has a credibility problem, the NBR Governor replied that this does not stem from the measures taken so far, but from an "excess of remarks, not all of them welcome," in the public sphere.

He noted that the current governing coalition has managed, through the decisions it has taken, to maintain the country's rating, even though this has been accompanied by natural friction, generated by the fact that the parties represent different electorates with differing views on measures such as VAT increases. Isărescu called on the coalition parties to return to the negotiating table and make "the necessary concessions" to move the country forward, stressing that the issue is not the credibility of the decisions already taken, but rather the lack of clarity regarding the future direction of governance — a concern felt by investors, rating agencies, the European Commission, and international financial institutions.

The NBR Governor also said that disputes within political negotiations are normal, but they should not be permanently transferred into the public domain. "It is overcoming the current impasse that has created and continues to create credibility problems for us, not the decision itself. The fiscal correction that Romania has carried out is significant, and the decision not to downgrade us was the correct one," concluded Mugur Isărescu.