6 euro – Prominent Greek Economists - Kyriakos Varvaressos

Kyriakos Varvaressos, as Professor of Political Economy, Finance Minister, Deputy Governor and later Governor of the Bank of Greece, Finance Minister in the government-in-exile of Emmanuel Tsouderos during World War II and Deputy Prime Minister of the government of Petros Voulgaris, played a decisive role in matters of crucial importance to the Greek economy in the first half of the 20th century. He negotiated the settlement of Greece’s external debt after 1932, as well as post-war foreign aid to Greece, and drew up the monetary reform and economic stabilisation policy in 1944-1945. As an economic expert, he participated in the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, which hammered out a new post-war international monetary order. Thoroughly knowledgeable of the Greek economy’s chronic ailments and an adamant advocate of the need for structural reform, he formulated realistic proposals for a viable growth model in his famous Report on the Greek economic problem (1952). In contrast with the growth model that was adopted in the end, Varvaressos believed that the Greek economy should initially rely primarily on light industry, construction and agriculture, taking advantage of the country’s comparative advantages. He recommended caution before any decision on big investment in heavy industry and warned against rapid capital accumulation in a poor country. In 1946, he was elected Greek Executive Director to the first Board of the World Bank in Washington, D.C., where he remained until his death.