Michael Sarris ( el, Μιχάλης Σαρρής; born 14 April 1946) is a

Greek Cypriot Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνοκύπριοι, Ellinokýprioi, tr, Kıbrıs Rumları) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He earned his B.Sc. in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analy ...

at the

London School of Economics & Political Science , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

(LSE). He later continued his studies in the United States where he obtained his Doctorate in Economics at

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

Career

In 1972, he joined the research department of the

Central Bank of Cyprus The Central Bank of Cyprus ( el, Kεντρική Τράπεζα της Κύπρου tr, Kıbrıs Merkez Bankası), is the central bank of the Republic of Cyprus, located in Nicosia. It was established in 1963. Its current Governor is Constantin ...

. In early 1974, he moved to the

Bank of Cyprus The Bank of Cyprus (BoC) ( el, Τράπεζα Κύπρου, tr, Kıbrıs Bankası) is a Cypriot financial services company established in 1899 with its headquarters in Strovolos. Current operations The Bank of Cyprus currently operates 108 br ...

to work in planning and project analysis. His international career took off in 1975 when Sarris was employed by the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

. In the course of his career, his work covered a broad range of sectors in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

and

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

. His duties included supervision of the design of the overall country strategies of the Bank, the provision of advice on policy issues for economic and social development, the elaboration of programmes for

structural adjustments Structural adjustment programs (SAPs) consist of loans (structural adjustment loans; SALs) provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) to countries that experience economic crises. Their purpose is to adjust the coun ...

and the development of economic policy dialogue between the Bank and the national authorities of countries seeking World Bank assistance. At the end of 2004, he retired from the World Bank as Department Director. In September 2005,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Tassos Papadopoulos Efstathios "Tassos" Nikolaou Papadopoulos ( el, Ευστάθιος (Τάσσος) Νικολάου Παπαδόπουλος; 7 January 1934 – 12 December 2008) was a Cypriot politician and barrister who served as the fifth president of Cyp ...

appointed Sarris

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

, a position he held until the change of government in March 2008.

Change of currency

During Sarris' first tenure as Minister of Finance, Cyprus prepared for and introduced the

euro The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

as its national currency. An aggressive

austerity Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spendi ...

programme helped turn a

fiscal deficit The government budget balance, also alternatively referred to as general government balance, public budget balance, or public fiscal balance, is the overall difference between government revenues and spending. A positive balance is called a ''g ...

of 6.3% in 2003 into a surplus of 1.2% in 2008, and reduced

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

to 4.7%. Sarris on Cyprus' entry to the

eurozone The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro ( €) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU polic ...

Cypriot financial crisis

In 2012, between January and August, Michael Sarris took a more active role in the recovery of

Cyprus Popular Bank Cyprus Popular Bank (from 2006 to 2011 known as Marfin Popular Bank) was the second-largest banking group in Cyprus behind the Bank of Cyprus until it was 'shuttered' in March 2013 and split into two parts. The 'good' Cypriot part was merged i ...

. Cyprus Popular Bank made unwise investments in Greece and urgently needed €1.8 billion ($2.25 billion) in

bailout A bailout is the provision of financial help to a corporation or country which otherwise would be on the brink of bankruptcy. A bailout differs from the term ''bail-in'' (coined in 2010) under which the bondholders or depositors of global sys ...

money in 2012. Sarris was reappointed Minister of Finance by President

Nicos Anastasiades Nicos Anastasiades ( el, Νίκος Αναστασιάδης ; born 27 September 1946) is a Cypriot politician who is the current president of Cyprus since 2013. He was re-elected in 2018. Previously, he was the leader of Democratic Rally betw ...

on 28 February 2013. He resigned on 2 April after completing talks on a controversial bailout package for Cyprus.

Allegations of sexual misconduct

On 15 October 2011, Sarris was accused by the internationally unrecognized entity of

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, isl ...

sexual misconduct Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature which exists on a spectrum that may include a broad range of sexual behaviors considered unwelcome. This includes conduct considered inappropriate on an individual or societal basis of morality, s ...

with a minor and was detained for three days. Northern Cyprus had previously made similar allegations.

Business interests

* Former Non-Executive Chairman and Chairman of Nominations Committee

Public Co Ltd * Non-Executive Independent Director and Member of Audit Committee AFI Development PLC * Non-Executive Director at FxPro * Director, Chairman of Audit Committee and Member of Conflicts Committee at Navios Maritime Partners Lp * Member of the Board of Takis & Louki Nemitsas Foundation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarris, Michael 1946 births Living people Cyprus Ministers of Finance Greek Cypriot people World Bank people