The Struggles for the Establishment of the National Bank of Moldavia In Light of the Theory of Political Entrepreneurship

At the middle of the XIX century, the historical provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia had simultaneous and coordinated plans to establish two national banks, one for each province, as state-sanctioned, official, central banks. While the plan for the Wallachian central bank was thwarted by the ouster of Prince Barbu Dimitrie Stirbey in 1851, the plan for the National Bank of Moldavia was finally realized by Prince Grigore Alexandru Ghica, in 1856, when the international developments weakened the grip that the Russian Empire had over Moldavia. The first Romanian National Bank was, however, a short-lived initiative. In this paper, we will look at the way it was established.