Chrystalla Georghadji Appointed Governor of Central Bank of Cyprus After Shock Resignation

The Auditor General of Cyprus has become the new governor of the embattled country's central bank after the shock resignation of the previous chief.

Chrystalla Georghadji succeeds Panicos Demetriades, a member of the governing council of the European Central Bank and a former Professor of Financial Economics at the University of Leicester, who quit unexpectedly from the Central Bank of Cyprus just days before.

President Anastasiades appointed 58-year-old Georghadji, who begins her new job on 11 April.

The news comes after Cyprus clinched a last-minute bailout deal with its international lenders to avert a potential exit from the eurozone and the collapse of its banking system last year.

The deal, agreed by eurozone finance ministers, saw Cyprus set to recieve €10bn ($13bn/£8.5bn) from fellow eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The country's second-biggest bank, The Popular Bank of Cyprus - known as Laiki – was closed down and holders of more than €100,000 in bank deposits faced big losses.

However, deposits under €100,000 did not suffer any losses as they were "fully guaranteed" by the state.