Chairperson of the Fiscal Council
Michalis Persianis was born in Nicosia in 1978. He is the Chairperson of the Fiscal Council of Cyprus, a position he has held since 2022. His term is six years and includes full-time employment. He studied Political Science at Rutgers University in New Jersey, from which he graduated in 2002 and completed postgraduate studies in International Relations and Economics at Johns Hopkins-SAIS. He has worked in the private sector, most recently as Director of Corporate Affairs at the Bank of Cyprus, from 2014 until 2021.
Member of the Fiscal Council
Marios Zachariadis holds a degree in Economics with mathematical emphasis from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1993) and a PhD in Economics from The Ohio State University (2000). He served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at Louisiana State University from 2000 to 2005. He was hired as an Assistant Professor at the University of Cyprus in May 2005, and subsequently promoted to Associate Professor in June 2010 and Full Professor in November 2017. He served as a member of the National Economy Council from April 2013 to March 2015, and as a member of the Fiscal Council from June 2014 to August 2017 and again from March 2024. His research interests include Monetary Economics, Fiscal Policy, Open Economy Macroeconomics, and Economic Growth. His recent research focuses on studying economic expectations and the impact of fiscal and monetary policy on the economy. His research has been published in journals such as the American Economic Review, the Journal of International Economics and the Journal of Money Credit and Banking.
Member of the Fiscal Council
Marios Clerides studied at the London School of Economics where he received a BSc, MSc and PhD (1982) in economics
In 1982 he was hired by Hellenic Bank as head of Planning and Economic Research Department. He coordinated various projects such as the introduction of ATMs in the Bank, the integration of the operations of Barclays Bank, etc.
In 2001-2006 he became Chairman of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) with a 5-year contract. During this period the CySEC was harmonized with the Community Acquis and assumed its Supervisory Responsibilities
In 2006-2014 he returned to Hellenic Bank as Group Risk Manager. During this period, he managed the Greek Bond Crisis and represented the Bank in its dealings with the Troika
In January 2014, he left Hellenic Bank and took over as General Manager at the Cyprus Cooperative Central Bank, from where he resigned in September 2015.
He served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Banks Association, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Economic Society, a member of the National Council of Economic
Advisers (the prof Pissarides Government Advisory Committee), and on various Boards of Financial Institutions and Public Companies.
He is a member of the Board of the Center for Economic Research of the University of Cyprus.
Until recently, he taught (as a Special Scientist) postgraduate students at the University of Cyprus on issues of the Cyprus Banking System and the Cyprus Money and Capital Markets.