This article analyses the relationship between the Governor of the National Bank of Romania, Dimitrie Burillianu, and the political authorities in the early 1930s. After refusing to agree to extend the financial mission led by the Banque de France, which had been imposed on the Romanian Government in return for an international loan — a mission which began to imply a degree of conditionality — Governor Burillianu was dismissed by royal decree on 10 March 1931. This measure illustrates the fragile nature of the independence granted to the National Bank of Romania on 7 February 1929, the date on which the Romanian currency had been stabilised by means of an international loan organised by the Banque de France.