The banking system operative in early 1972 was the end product of several institutional reorganizations, the last of which was completed in May 1971. The main purpose of the reorganizations was to make bank credit a more effective tool for promoting economic development and for controlling the operations of economic enterprises and organizations. Control through credit extension has been officially considered an important means for inducing enterprises and trusts to attain the targets of the economic plans. Little information is available on the banks' operations beyond the formal statement of their functions. Data relating to the money supply and foreign exchange reserves have also been kept secret. Banking Institutions The banking system consists of the National Bank of the Romanian Socialist Republic (referred to as the National Bank), the Investment Bank, the Romanian Foreign Trade Bank, the Bank for Agriculture and the Food Industry, and the Savings and Loan Bank. The functions of the Romanian Foreign Trade Bank and of the Bank for Agriculture and the Food Industry had been exercised to a more limited extent by the National Bank until 1968. The Economy and Consignment Fund, a department of the Savings and Loan Bank, makes credit available for the construction of privately owned housing--a function exercised by the Investment Bank until the end of 1969. Information on the interrelations between the specialized banks and the National Bank or between the banks and the Ministry of Finance was not available in early 1972. The National Bank, as reconstituted in December 1970 with a capitalization of 1 billion lei, is the country's central bank of issue, but it also acts as a banker for the government, a bankers' banker for the specialized financial institutions, and a short-term credit and discount agency for economic organizations. The main functions of the National Bank in the field of domestic finance include: the issue of currency and control over its circulation; management of the budgetary cash resources; coordination of all short-term credit and discount activities; and participation in the formulation of annual and five-year credit and cash plans, jointly with the State Planning Committee and the Ministry of Finance. The National Bank establishes official foreign exchange rates, engages in foreign exchange operations directly or through the Romanian Foreign Trade Bank and other authorized organizations, and participates in working out the balance of foreign payments and in following up on its execution. The National Bank also controls the production, processing, and use of precious metals and gems and, together with the State Planning Committee and the Ministry of Finance, develops plans for their acquisition and allocation at home and abroad. The bank has exclusive authority to purchase from individuals items made of precious metals or stones and items of artistic, historic, or documentary value.