May 25, 1959
DRACHMA CONVERTIBILITY: During yesterday’s meeting of the monetary committee, it was decided to establish a system of partial convertibility for the drachma, bringing Greece into line with the system introduced last December in most advanced economies in Europe – that is, the partial convertibility of their national currency into dollars and other convertible foreign currencies. Given that the drachma, thanks to the country’s monetary and economic stability, has become one of the healthiest currencies, it will be one of the most convertible given that goods are imported more freely into Greece than into any other European country. GREECE-VATICAN: At the conclusion of their official visit to Italy, Greece’s King Pavlos and Queen Frederiki have visited the Vatican, where they were received by Pope John XXIII, who then gave a press conference. The pope spoke with great sympathy of the trials suffered by Greece during the war and referred to his own personal contribution, as Cardinal Roncalli, then papal nuncio to Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria, to the effort to provide food supplies to the Greek people.
