Alfons "Fons" Remi Emiel, Viscount Verplaetse (19 February 1930 – 15 October 2020) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

economist who served as Governor of the

National Bank of Belgium The National Bank of Belgium (NBB; nl, Nationale Bank van België, french: Banque nationale de Belgique, german: Belgische Nationalbank) has been the central bank of Belgium since 1850. The National Bank of Belgium was established with 100% pr ...

(NBB) from 1989 until 1999. He was one of the architects of the devaluation of the Belgian Frank in 1982 when he worked at the cabinet of

Wilfried Martens Wilfried Achiel Emma Martens (; 19 April 1936 – 9 October 2013) was a Belgian politician who served as prime minister of Belgium from 1979 to 1981 and from 1981 to 1992. A member of the Flemish Christian People's Party, during his premiership ...

in the government Martens V. As governor of the NBB, he prepared the entry of Belgium to the

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

in 1999.

Career

Verplaetse was born on 19 February 1930, in

Zulte Zulte () is a Belgian municipality located in Flanders and in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Machelen, and Zulte proper. In 2021, Zulte had a total population of 15,843. The total area is 32.52&nbs ...

. After he graduated in commercial sciences from the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (french: Université de Louvain, link=no; nl, Universiteit Leuven, link=no) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of ...

, Alfons Verplaetse started his career at the National Bank in 1953, where he worked at the Research department. In 1982, in the government Martens V, he was seconded to the Prime Minister's Office as associate chief of staff, and subsequently as head of the Economic Office until 1987. Together with

Jacques van Ypersele de Strihou Jacques Marie Joseph Hubert Ghislain van Ypersele de Strihou (born 5 December 1936), was the ''Principal Private Secretary'' to the King of the Belgians (1983–2013). When Albert II of Belgium succeeded his brother Baudouin I of Belgium, he kept ...

, he was one of the architects of the economic recovery policy launched by the February 1982 devaluation of the

Belgian franc The Belgian franc ( nl, Belgische frank, french: Franc belge, german: Belgischer Franken) was the currency of the Kingdom of Belgium from 1832 until 2002 when the Euro was introduced. It was subdivided into 100 subunits, each known as a in Dutch ...

. The plan was mainly conceived by four people meeting in Verplaetse's holiday residence in , a tiny village in the

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

. Later Poupehan became a term for backroom politics. He was appointed as a director of the NBB in 1985 and became vice-governor in 1988 and succeeded

Jean Godeaux Baron Jean Godeaux (3 July 1922 – 27 April 2009) was a Belgian economist, civil servant and former governor of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) from 1982 until 1989. Jean Godeaux studied both law and economics, and started his career in 1947 ...

as governor in 1989. In 1990, the Belgian franc was linked to the

German mark The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...

, in order to stabilise the Belgian currency. The reform of the Belgian monetary policy instruments in 1991 was another step to stabilise and improve the Belgian monetary situation. An important challenge of his tenure as governor of the NBB was the European monetary integration, which was initiated under

Jacques Delors Jacques Lucien Jean Delors (born 20 July 1925) is a French politician who served as the 8th President of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995. He served as Minister of Finance of France from 1981 to 1984. He was a Member of the European Par ...

. Alfons Verplaetse became a member of the board of governors of the

European Monetary Institute The European Monetary Institute (EMI) was the forerunner of the European Central Bank (ECB), operating between 1994 and 1997. History The EMI was created 1 January 1994 to oversee the second stage in the creation of monetary union. The EMI itself ...

in 1994 and of the Governing Council of the

European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the prime component of the monetary Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#Intern ...

in 1998. Verplaetse was supposed to retire in 1997, but remained in office until 1999 to oversee the introduction of the

to replace the

, on 1 January 1999, as the official currency of Belgium. He was succeeded by

Guy Quaden Guy, Baron Quaden (born 5 August 1945 in Liège, Belgium) is a Belgian economist. He was Governor of the National Bank of Belgium 2003–11, and as such a member of the Governing and General Councils of the European Central Bank. Since 2003 he has ...

as governor of the National Bank. On 10 March 1997, Verplaetse was elected President of the

Bank for International Settlements The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international financial institution owned by central banks that "fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks". The BIS carries out its work thr ...

. He was replaced on 8 February 1999 by

Urban Bäckström Urban Bäckström (born 25 May 1954, Sollefteå, Västernorrlands län) is a Sweden, Swedish economist who was CEO of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise from 2005 to 2014 and governor of the Bank of Sweden from 1994 to 2002. Personal Bäckst ...

. After his retirement, he made his expertise available in the service of economic and financial development in the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. Verplaetse died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

on 15 October 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium The COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Belgium on 4 February 2020, when one of a group of nine Belgians repatriated from Wuhan to Brussels was repor ...

.Press release by the National Bank of Belgium on the death of Verplaetse
/ref>Eregouverneur Nationale Bank Fons Verplaetse overleden aan coronavirus
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verplaetse, Alfons 1930 births 2020 deaths Belgian bankers Belgian businesspeople Belgian civil servants Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium Governors of the National Bank of Belgium Viscounts of Belgium People from Zulte