Thursday, March 2: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Post date: Mar 08, 2017 12:50:0 PM

By: Meghan Klaric and Yuchen Yang

After our meeting with Evan Kalpadakis, our group met with Sabina Dziurman, the Director for Greece and Cyprus for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Ms. Dziurman explained that the Greek authorities had invited EBRD to Athens on a temporary basis to support reforms and economic growth. The office opened about 18 months ago and is expected to work continuously in Greece until 2020. Since then, it has invested over 700 million euros into Greek banks, and investments are planned that will bring that total to over 1 million euros.

EBRD has focused its efforts on confidence-building in the Greek banking system. One of its accomplishments was the nomination of independent members to the boards of the big Greek banks, which has led to more independent leadership in the banking sector. EBRD is also working with purchasers to finance privatization projects throughout Greece, including airports and ports. See more information about its activities in Greece on the EBRD website.

A few students raised questions regarding the capital controls, particularly about whether the use of credit and debit cards counts against the biweekly withdrawal limit of 840 euros. Interestingly, we learned that purchases using plastic do not count against the capital control limit, and their use has increased since the capital controls were initiated. The result has been better tracking of purchases, increasing the government’s ability to properly collect taxes. Ms. Dziurman noted that in her own experience, stores still preferred cash, and often their credit card machines would conveniently be “broken.” She recounted another example where she offered to pay with a credit card, and the store clerk initially hesitated before being reassured by another employee (presumably a manager) that they would accept the credit card as payment.

After our informative meeting with Ms. Dziurman, she took us up to the building’s rooftop for a spectacular view of the Acropolis and a photo (sadly, we're blocking the Acropolis!).