Romanian President Traian Basescu on Tuesday awarded central bank governor Mugur Isarescu the “Romanian Star” Order, the highest civilian decoration in the country, for "exceptional results" at the helm of the central bank.

Isarescu was presented with the highest rank of the order,namely the Sash rank. The order was given in sign of "greatappreciation" for Isarescu's results and his efforts as centralbank governor to "elaborate and successfully implement monetarypolicies to ensure Romania's financial stability," Basescu said atthe award ceremony.

The head of state also decorated the central bank board memberswho served between 2004 and 2009.

In his receiving speech, Isarescu pledged to carry on thecentral bank's policy to ensure price and financial stability andto make the necessary preparations for an optimal adoption of theeuro.

Romania, which hopes to join the euro area in 2014-2015, mustregister a deficit below 3% of the gross domestic product in theyears prior to the adoption of the European common currency.

In 2010, Romania pledged to bring the budget deficit down to5.9% of GDP, from a gap estimated at 7.3% of GDP in the lastyear.