Former Greek finance minister to head central bank

Former Greek finance minister Stournaras tapped to head national central bank

Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Greece's former finance minister Yannis Stournaras has been tapped to head the financially troubled country's central bank, two days after he was replaced in a cabinet reshuffle.

The Bank of Greece said in a statement Wednesday it was nominating Stournaras to take over from the current governor, George Provopoulos, whose term expires next week.

The central bank's proposal is expected to be formally approved by the government.

Stournaras was appointed finance minister in mid-2012, and handled Greece's bailout negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and European Union. He also oversaw the country's tentative return to financial markets earlier this year.

He was replaced at the ministry by Gikas Hardouvelis, chief economist at Eurobank.