Mr George Papaconstantinou has been appointed Minister of Finance of the Hellenic Republic following the Greek general elections of 4 October 2009 and thus also becomes EIB Governor for the Hellenic Republic, succeeding Mr Ioannis Papathanasiou.

Mr George Papaconstantinou was born in Athens in 1961. He is an economist, holding a B.Sc. from the London School of Economics, an M.A. from the New York University, and a PhD in economics from the London School of Economics.

From 1988 to 1998, he worked as a senior economist at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris. Since 1998, he has held several high-level positions in the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Between 2003 and 2007, he taught economics at the Athens University of Economics and Business.

Between 2004 and 2007, Mr Papaconstantinou served as economic advisor to PASOK’s President George Papandreou. In May 2005 he was elected member of the National Council of PASOK. In September 2007, he was elected member of the Greek National Parliament. In June 2009, he was elected MEP.