Former Bank of Greece (BoG) Georgios Provopoulos, who was the central banker from 2008 to 2014, a period which witnessed an economic implosion of the Greek economy due to a financial crisis and commensurate political instability, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 74.
The cause of death was given as cancer, according to local media reports.
Provopoulos was born in the port city Piraeus and obtained his BA in economics from the University of Athens, followed by a master’s degree and Ph.D in economics at the University of Essex.
After entering the banking sector, he eventually rose to lead – as president and CEO of state-owned Emporiki Bank – succeeding his current BoG successor Yannis Stournaras.
Under his watch in 2006 Emporiki Bank was privatized and acquired by France’s Credit Agricole. He later served as CEO of Piraeus Bank, one of Greece’s four systemic banks today, before an appointment BoG governor in 2008 by the then conservative Costas Karamanlis governor.
The financial crisis erupted with a vengeance a year later.
In 2014 he was succeeded as central banker by the up-until-then finance minister Stournaras, as Provopoulos’ term was not renewed. Stournaras is still the BoG governor.
We are saddened to learn of the passing of former Bank of Greece Governor George Provopoulos. He guided the Greek central bank skilfully through tough times. We would like to express our deep condolences to his family and friends. pic.twitter.com/duvUHD66uE
— European Central Bank (@ecb) May 28, 2024
