SLOVAK President Ivan Gašparovič formally appointed Jozef Makúch to the post of governor of the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) on January 12, the SITA newswire reported.
Makúch replaces Ivan Šramko in the position. Before the ceremony to appoint the new governor, Prime Minister Robert Fico met Šramko and commented that the central bank under its outgoing governor was a respected institution in the European context and that the government paid attention to its opinions, SITA wrote.
Šramko was appointed NBS governor on January 1, 2005. Between 2002 and 2005 he held the post of NBS vice-governor. As NBS governor he represented the Slovak central bank on the board of governors of the European Central Bank, and also served as a governor of the International Monetary Fund and as an alternate governor of the European Bank for Development and Reconstruction.
The new NBS governor, Jozef Makúch, was appointed a member of the NBS bank board in 2005, taking up his post in 2006. Since 2007, he has served as NBS executive director for security and premises.
