Bank of Greece
Encyclopedia
The Bank of Greece is the national
central bank
of Greece
, located in Athens
on Panepistimiou Street
, with several branches across the country. Founded in 1927. Its operations started officially in 1928.
Bank of Greece, a member of the European System of Central Banks
(ESCB), has a staff of more than 3,000 employees.
The primary objective of the Bank of Greece is to ensure price stability in Greece. It also
supervises the private banks and acts as a treasurer and fiscal agent for the Greek government
. After law 3867/2010 was passed, the Bank of Greece is also responsible for supervising private insurance companies, merging in the Committee for the Supervision of Insurance Companies established by law 3229/2004.
Its Euro banknotes
printer identification code is Y.
Bank of Greece also sells Gold sovereigns.
The entrance of the Bank of Greece features the Greek and the European Union flags.
The current governor is Georgios A. Provopoulos who manages the bank together with the deputy governors Panagiotis Aristidis Thomopoulos and Nikolaos D. Paleocrassas.
central bank
Central bank
A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is a public institution that usually issues the currency, regulates the money supply, and controls the interest rates in a country. Central banks often also oversee the commercial banking system of their respective countries...
of Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, located in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
on Panepistimiou Street
Panepistimiou Street
Panepistimiou Street is a major street in Athens that runs one way for non-transit vehicles since 2002 from Amalias Avenue, Syntagma Square and Vassilissis Sofias Avenue to Omonoia Square in which is now a pedestrian crossing and before an intersection...
, with several branches across the country. Founded in 1927. Its operations started officially in 1928.
Introduction
European System of Central Banks
The European System of Central Banks is composed of the European Central Bank and the national central banks of all 27 European Union Member States.-Functions:...
(ESCB), has a staff of more than 3,000 employees.
The primary objective of the Bank of Greece is to ensure price stability in Greece. It also
supervises the private banks and acts as a treasurer and fiscal agent for the Greek government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
. After law 3867/2010 was passed, the Bank of Greece is also responsible for supervising private insurance companies, merging in the Committee for the Supervision of Insurance Companies established by law 3229/2004.
Its Euro banknotes
Euro banknotes
Euro banknotes are the banknotes of the euro, the currency of the eurozone and have been in circulation since 2002. They are issued by the national central banks of the euro area or the European Central Bank...
printer identification code is Y.
Bank of Greece also sells Gold sovereigns.
The entrance of the Bank of Greece features the Greek and the European Union flags.
The current governor is Georgios A. Provopoulos who manages the bank together with the deputy governors Panagiotis Aristidis Thomopoulos and Nikolaos D. Paleocrassas.
Governors
The chief officer of the Bank of Greece is the governor , a governmental appointee.- Alexandros DiomidisAlexandros DiomidisAlexandros Diomedes was a former governor of the Central Bank of Greece who became Prime Minister of Greece upon the death of Themistoklis Sophoulis....
: April 21, 1928 - September 29, 1931 - Emmanouil TsouderosEmmanouil TsouderosEmmanouil Tsouderos was a political and financial figure of modern Greece, serving as Prime Minister of the Greek government in exile during World War II.-Early life:...
(1st period): October 31, 1931 - August 8, 1935 - Emmanouil Tsouderos (2nd period): March 20, 1936 - July 9, 1939
- Ioannis Drosopoulos: July 9, 1939 - July 28, 1939
- Kyriakos Varvaresos (1st period - dismissed by the Axis occupation government): August 4, 1939 - May 23, 1941)
- Kyriakos Varvaresos (2nd period: Nazi occupation - governor in exile): April 22, 1941 - (October 1944)
- Miltiades Negrepontis (Nazi occupation): April 24, 1941 - July 3, 1941
- Demetrios Santis (Nazi occupation): July 2, 1941 - January 20, 1943
- Theodoros Tourkovasilis (Nazi occupation): April 19, 1943 - April 13, 1944
- Xenophon ZolotasXenophon ZolotasXenophon Zolotas , was a Greek economist and served as an interim non-party Prime Minister of Greece.-Early life and career:Born in Athens in 1904, Zolotas studied economics at the University of Athens, and later studied in Leipzig and Paris. He came from a wealthy family of goldsmiths with roots...
(Co-Governor): October 12, 1944 - January 8, 1945 - Kyriakos Varvaresos (3rd period): February 2, 1945 - September 19, 1945
- Georgios Mantzavinos: February 11, 1946 - February 2, 1955
- Xenophon Zolotas (2nd period): February 5, 1955 - August 5, 1967
- Demetrios Galanis: August 7, 1967 - May 4, 1973
- Konstantinos Papayiannis: May 7, 1973 - August 9, 1974
- Panagotis Papaligouras: August 9, 1974 - October 23, 1974
- Xenophon ZolotasXenophon ZolotasXenophon Zolotas , was a Greek economist and served as an interim non-party Prime Minister of Greece.-Early life and career:Born in Athens in 1904, Zolotas studied economics at the University of Athens, and later studied in Leipzig and Paris. He came from a wealthy family of goldsmiths with roots...
(3rd period): November 27, 1974 - October 29, 1981 - Gerasimos Arsenis: November 3, 1981 - February 20, 1984
- Demetrios Chalikias: February 20, 1984 - February 20, 1992
- Euthymios Christodoulou: February 20, 1992 - December 1, 1993
- Ioannis Boutos: December 1, 1993 - October 26, 1994
- Lucas PapademosLucas PapademosLucas Papademos is a Greek economist who has been appointed as Prime Minister of Greece since 11 November 2011.Previously, he was Governor of the Bank of Greece from 1994 to 2002 and Vice President of the European Central Bank from 2002 to 2010...
: October 26, 1994 - May 31, 2002 - Nikolaos Garganas: May 31, 2002 - June 20, 2008
- George ProvopoulosGeorge ProvopoulosGeorge Provopoulos is the current Governor of the Bank of Greece, and European Central Bank Governing Council member...
: June 20, 2008 - present
Deputy Governors
The deputy governor is the Bank's second-in-line officer. Traditionally, the Deputy Governors' main remit is administration, whereas Governors supervise monetary policy at large.- Emmanuel Tsouderos: April 21, 1928 - October 31, 1931
- Emmanuel Kamaras: November 25, 1931 – May 20, 1932
- Kyriakos Varvaressos: March 1, 1933 – August 4, 1939
- Georgios Mantzavinos: September 28, 1936 - February 11, 1946
- Ioannis Arvanitis: August 4, 1939 - April 16, 1941
- Andreas Papademetriou (Nazi occupation): July 3, 1941 - November 18, 1941
- Spyridon Hadjikyriakos (Nazi occupation): April 5, 1943 - October 5, 1944
- Stylianos Gregoriou: March 28, 1945 - February 2, 1955
- Vasilios Kyriakopoulos: February 5, 1955 - December 24, 1955
- Demetrios GalanisDemetrios GalanisDemetrios Galanis was an early twentieth century Greek artist and contemporary and friend of Picasso. In 1920, the year he completed his `Seated Nude', he exhibited alongside such major figures of modern art as Matisse and Braque, while from 1921 on he also exhibited alongside Juan Gris, Dufy,...
: December 31, 1955 - August 7, 1967 - Ioannis Pezmazoglou: February 11, 1960 - August 5, 1967
- Konstantinos ThanosKonstantinos ThanosKonstantinos Thanos is a Greek wrestler who participated in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Athens.-References:...
: January 5, 1968 - September 10, 1969 - Eustathios Panas: September 11, 1969 - August 9, 1974
- Nikolaos Kyriazidis: August 9, 1974 - January 5, 1977
- Nikolaos Charissopoulos: October 21, 1975 - November 6, 1981
- Evangelos Devletoglou: December 23, 1977 - November 8, 1978
- Georgios Drakos: November 24, 1978 - October 20, 1981
- Demetrios Chalikias: November 16, 1981 - February 6, 1984
- Evangelos Kourakos (1st period): July 10, 1982 - February 11, 1986
- Panagiotis Korliras: February 20, 1984 - August 30, 1985
- Eustathios Papageorgiou: September 17, 1985 - September 17, 1989
- Georgios Provopoulos: October 1, 1990 - November 29, 1993
- Vasilios Antonioudakis: October 1, 1990 - December 19, 1991
- Panagiotis Pavopoulos: February 21, 1992 - November 29, 1993
- Evangelos Kourakos (2nd period): December 1, 1993 - September 4, 1996
- Lucas PapademosLucas PapademosLucas Papademos is a Greek economist who has been appointed as Prime Minister of Greece since 11 November 2011.Previously, he was Governor of the Bank of Greece from 1994 to 2002 and Vice President of the European Central Bank from 2002 to 2010...
: December 1, 1993 - October 26, 1994 - Panagiotis Thomopoulos: October 26, 1994 - March 3, 2009
- Nikolaos Garganas: September 5, 1996 – June 13, 2002
- Nikolaos Paleocrassas: June 14, 2002 - June 14, 2008
- Eleni Dendrinou-Louri: June 15, 2008 - present
- Ioannis M. Papadakis: March 3, 2009 - present
See also
- Celebrating the 75th anniversary of its foundation, the bank was selected as a main motif of a high value commemorative coin, the Greek €200 75th anniversary of Bank of Greece commemorative coin, minted in 2003. Two type of coins were minted: one in silver and the other in gold. They were distributed among bank employees and officials.
- Economy of GreeceEconomy of GreeceThe economy of Greece is the 32nd largest in the world by nominal gross domestic product and the 37th largest at purchasing power parity , according to data by the World Bank for the year 2010...
- EuroEuroThe euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
- Greek drachmaGreek drachmaDrachma, pl. drachmas or drachmae was the currency used in Greece during several periods in its history:...
- European System of Central BanksEuropean System of Central BanksThe European System of Central Banks is composed of the European Central Bank and the national central banks of all 27 European Union Member States.-Functions:...