Klaus Henrik Waris (17 March 1914 – 18 December 1994) was a Finnish economist, professor and the governor of the Bank of Finland from 1957 to 1967. Waris was born in Helsinki. He graduated in 1935 from

University of Turku sv, Åbo universitet , latin_name = Universitas Aboensis , image_name = University of Turku.svg , motto = ''Vapaan kansan lahja vapaalle tieteelle'' , established = 1920 , type ...

. Waris worked as the head of the Department of National Economy at the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

from 1946 to 1949. From 1949 to 1952, Waris was professor of economics at the

Helsinki University of Technology Helsinki University of Technology (TKK; fi, Teknillinen korkeakoulu; sv, Tekniska högskolan) was a technical university in Finland. It was located in Otaniemi, Espoo in the metropolitan area of Greater Helsinki. The university was founded in ...

, and was a member of the executive board of the bank

Suomen Yhdyspankki Nordea Bank Abp, commonly referred to as Nordea, is a European Finance, financial services group operating in northern Europe and based in Helsinki, Finland. The name is a blend of the words "Nordic" and "idea". The bank is the result of the suc ...

from 1950 to 1951. From 1952 to 1957, Waris was a member of the executive board of the Bank of Finland, and from 1957 to 1967 the governor of the bank. When Waris began his term as governor, his first task was to defend the value of the

devalued In macroeconomics and modern monetary policy, a devaluation is an official lowering of the value of a country's currency within a fixed exchange-rate system, in which a monetary authority formally sets a lower exchange rate of the national curren ...

Finnish mark in the situation after the 1956 general strike. In 1961, however, Finnish markka had to be devalued again. Waris resigned from the central bank in 1967. Devaluations facilitated exports and foreign loans were used to develop the Finnish forest industry and improve Finland's road network. Unemployment was low during the Waris period, living standards improved and Finland urbanized. After a career in banking, Waris served as the chancellor of the

Helsinki School of Economics The Aalto University School of Business ( fi, Aalto-yliopiston kauppakorkeakoulu; sv, Aalto-universitets handelshögskola), is the largest business school in Finland. Founded in 1911, it is the second oldest business school in Finland and one of ...

from 1967 to 1980 and as the first executive of

Sitra Sitra ( ar, سترة or , ''As-Sitra''), also known as Sitrah ( ar, Jazīrat Sitrah, script=Latn) or Sitra Island ( ar, Jazīrat as-Sitra, script=Latn), is an island in Bahrain. It lies south of the capital, Manama, on Bahrain Island. History ...

from 1968 to 1972.

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Further reading