Panicos Demetriades

Panicos Demetriades is Professor of Financial Economics at the University of Leicester, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus and former Member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank.

After studying economics in the UK, Panicos worked at both the central bank in his native Cyprus, and in various academic posts in Britain. He was appointed Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus just as the country struggled with the aftermath of the financial crisis. The Cypriot economy had been hit by the global downturn as well as falls in tourism, shipping, property, and its offshore banking sector. The country negotiated a bailout which saw the EU and IMF impose a levy on bank deposits that shook market confidence in the system and threw the viability of the whole economy in to question.

In his book Diary of the Euro Crisis in Cyprus: Lessons for Bank Recovery and Resolution Panicos looks at the political, regulatory and economic lessons from the crisis. He considers the decisions faced by politicians in Cyprus and across Europe, the fragility of the banking sector, and the role of Russian money in buying up the country’s largest bank.

Now one of Europe’s leading and most widely read economic writers Panicos examines a range of financial and economic issues from the detailed workings of national banking systems to a broader outlook for industry and the policy decisions that could affect it. He delivers an insight into the politics and economics of the Eurozone, and the possible outcomes for a post-Brexit UK and EU. With an extensive knowledge of global economic and banking systems, particularly those of Asia and Africa, he looks at the prospects for global growth, investment and regulation. Having had to unravel some of the dealings between Cypriot banks and Russian investors he can also provide revealing insights into everything from how Russian money is destabilising European finances and the euro to alleged political interference in the US and elsewhere.