Greece has come through an exceptional debt crisis and now it faces the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Can it maintain its return to growth?

What are its best opportunities – as well as its biggest risks? What support does Greece seek from the European Union, with the proposed Recovery Plan? How does the Government intend to respond to the proposals made by the Pissarides Commission? Christos Staikouras, Minister of Finance for Greece, will outline his plans for Greece and respond to comments and questions from our expert discussants, as well as the audience.

Christos Staikouras (@cstaikouras) is Minister of Finance of the Hellenic Republic, a position he had held since July 2019.  He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the Management School, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of London, and a Doctor’s degree (PhD in Banking) from the Department of Banking and Finance, Cass Business School, City University. He is Associate Professor in Finance at the Athens University of Economics and Business. He has worked at the Bank of England and the Eurobank Group. He has published over 50 research papers in international refereed scientific journals, books and monographs and he has also participated in many scientific international conferences.

George Handjinicolaou is Chairman, non-executive member, of the Board of Directors of Piraeus Bank, and serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Athens Stock Exchange (ATHEX). He is also Chairman of the Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation, a non-profit foundation and Handjinicolaou has also been elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Bank Association. He received his PhD in Finance from the graduate school of business at New York University, where he also earned his MBA, and holds a BS degree from the Law School at the University of Athens, Greece. His career in the financial services sector spans over 35 years, the vast majority of which was spent at global financial institutions based in London and New York.

Helen Louri-Dendrinou studied at the Athens University of Economics and Business (B.Sc. Econ), London School of Economics (M.Sc. Econ) and University of Oxford (D.Phil. Econ). She is Professor at the Department of Economics of the Athens University of Economics and Business since 2001 and has been the Chair of the Department since November 2015. Ηer research interests are in the areas of Industrial Organization and Market Dynamics, Foreign Direct Investment and International Economics, Finance and Banking Strategy. She was Deputy Governor of the Bank of Greece (June 2008 - June 2014). Currently she is a board member of IOBE and ELIAMEP and she chairs the Bank of Greece Cultural Centre Advisory Committee. 

Dimitri Vayanos is Professor of Finance at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he also directs the Financial Markets Group and the Paul Woolley Centre for the Study of Capital Market Dysfunctionality. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, a Director and former Managing Editor of the Review of Economic Studies, a Research Fellow at CEPR and a former Director of its Financial Economics program, a Research Associate at NBER, a former Director of the American Finance Association, and a former Head of LSE's Finance Department. He is a member of the Pissarides Committee, tasked to develop a growth plan for the Greek economy.

Kevin Featherstone is Eleftherios Venizelos Professor in Contemporary Greek Studies and Professor in European Politics and the Director of the Hellenic Observatory.

The Hellenic Observatory (@HO_LSE) is internationally recognised as one of the premier research centres on contemporary Greece and Cyprus. It engages in a range of activities, including developing and supporting academic and policy-related research; organisation of conferences, seminars and workshops; academic exchange through visiting fellowships and internships; as well as teaching at the graduate level through LSE's European Institute.

The Hellenic Bankers Association UK was founded in 1994 to promote a closer co-operation among bankers and financial professionals of Hellenic origin based in the United Kingdom.

This event forms part of LSE’s Shaping the Post-COVID World initiative, a series of debates about the direction the world could and should be taking after the crisis.

Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSECOVID19