The Cyprus-Greece Business Association on Friday congratulated Greece’s Minister of National Economy and Finance Kyriacos Pierrakakis, on his assumption of the Eurogroup presidency.
In a statement from the association, president Iosif Iosif expressed pride and a desire for future cooperation.
Pierrakakis, who became the head of the Eurogroup on Thursday, saw off the rival Belgian candidate to become president of the assembly of finance ministers from the 20 countries sharing the euro, underscoring Greece’s significant turnaround since the years it nearly left the single currency.
“The Cyprus-Greece Business Association warmly congratulates you on your election to the presidency of the Eurogroup,” Iosif stated.
“Your assumption of this important position for European financial affairs is a particular honour for you personally, the Greek government, Greece, but also Cyprus,” he added.
“Today, Europe faces serious challenges in the economic sector, so your role as president of the Eurogroup becomes more crucial and more decisive for the economic future of the whole of Europe,” the association president continued.
European Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told a news conference on Thursday that “this election is an important symbolic moment for Greece and the euro area”.
“We all remember the deep financial crisis that Greece had to go through and even questions were raised about Greece’s continued membership in the euro area,” Dombrovskis said.
“Now we see a remarkable turnaround with Greece being among the euro area’s best performing economies with a fiscal surplus and now with a Greek finance minister as the president of the Eurogroup,” he added.
Greece, which had to be bailed out three times between 2010 and 2015 by eurozone governments, now boasts steady economic growth above 2 per cent, the highest investment rates in the euro zone, and budget surpluses.
The country’s public debt, while still the highest in Europe, has been falling quickly for years.
The 42-year-old computer scientist will also represent the single-currency area at G7 finance ministers’ meetings, shape the agenda of the monthly meetings, and work to find compromises and common positions among the 20 finance ministers who gather monthly to discuss euro-related issues.
European Council president Antonio Costa said on social media platform X, “Greece has come such a long way in the past 10 years.”
“Your election today as president of the Eurogroup, dear Kyriakos Pierrakakis, is a meaningful recognition of that progress, both for your country and for our Union,” Costa added.
Pierrakakis had been competing for the post with Belgium’s deputy prime minister, Vincent Van Peteghem, since Paschal Donohoe resigned as Irish finance minister and Eurogroup president to take up a senior World Bank role.
He will officially take office on December 12, 2025, and is set to serve a two-and-a-half-year term.
Pierrakakis became Greek finance minister earlier this year, having previously served as digital governance minister for the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis between 2019 and 2023, where he spearheaded the digitalisation of the state as Greece recovered from the 2009-2018 debt crisis.
“We, as the Cyprus-Greece Business Association, beyond the special joy and satisfaction we feel for your election, look forward to every cooperation with you to promote the economic and business relations of Cyprus and Greece,” the letter from the Cyprus-Greece Business Association concluded.
