ts regarding need,
suitability, and adherence to prescribed norms; have an adequate raw
materials base and assured sales outlets; and serve to improve the
economic performance of the organization that undertakes the investment.
In the event of disagreement between the bank and the organization
seeking investment approval, appeal may be made to higher authorities.

The Romanian Foreign Trade Bank was established in July 1968. Its
principal functions are to facilitate exports and, through strict
controls over exchange allocations, to encourage import substitution by
domestic producers. In 1970 about 73 percent of the bank's credits were
devoted to exports, and only 21 percent were granted for imports. The
remaining 6 percent of the credits were used to finance internal
transport.

In July 1971 the Romanian Foreign Trade Bank and a group of eight French
financial institutions opened the Romanian-French Bank in Paris. This
bank was organized as a private limited-liability company with a capital
of 20 million French francs underwritten in equal parts by the Romanian
Foreign Trade Bank and the French bankers. In the second half of 1971
the Romanian Foreign Trade Bank acquired affiliates in London and Rome.

The Bank for Agriculture and the Food Industry was created in May 1971
by expanding the functions and changing the name of the Agricultural
Bank established three years earlier. This reorganization followed the
consolidation of previously independent ministries into the Ministry of
Agriculture, Food Industry, and Waters (referred to as the Ministry of
Agriculture). The bank was capitalized at 500 million lei and was
required to create a reserve out of profits equal to the amount of its
capitalization. The bank's function is to provide investment and
operating credits for enterprises under the jurisdiction of the Ministry
of Agriculture, including collective farms, and to finance the
distribution of their products within the country.

A few summary data on credits extended by the Bank for Agriculture and
the Food Industry to collective farms have been released to the
country's press in an obvious effort to publicize official concern for
this important but neglected farm sector (see ch. 15). Information on
other aspects of this bank's operations have not been disclosed.

The Savings and Loan Bank, an institution nationalized at an early stage
of communist rule, had 1,560 branches and agencies in 1971, most of
which were