Christodoulos Stefanadis has been appointed as the new head of the Council of Economic Advisors (SOE), replacing Panos Tsakloglou, which has sparked controversy amongst current and former government ministers.
The controversy arose when it was revealed that in November and December 2011, when Mr. Stefanadis was a professor at the University of Piraeus, he published articles arguing for abandoning the euro and returning to the drachma.
The appointment of Mr. Stefanadis by the Minister of Finances Gikas Hardouvelis has caused tension amongst current and former cabinet ministers of the Samaras-Venizelos administration, who consider it a challenge to the government’s line of remaining within the Eurozone at all cost.
Mr. Stefanadis has addressed the criticism against his appointment and argued that his opinions regarding the drachma have been misunderstood and explained that the impressive development of the Greek economy has confirmed his predictions.
