YEREVAN, January 14. / ARKA /. European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi was today unveiled as ‘governor of the year' and the People's Bank of China (PBoC) as ‘central bank of the year' in the inaugural Central Banking awards.

Both parties demonstrated committed resolve to achieve their aims despite operating in a difficult environment, according to a series of 10 articles published by Central Banking journal.

Other winners of the central banking categories were the Central Bank of Colombia (reserves manager of the year), Sveriges Riksbank (transparency award) and the Bank of Spain (website of the year). BlackRock (asset manager of the year), Northern Trust (global custodian of the year), VocaLink (payments and clearing technology provider of the year) and OpenLink (risk management technology provider of the year) secured wins in the market practitioner segment. Former Federal Reserve chairman, Paul Volcker, was unveiled as the winner of the ‘central banking lifetime achievement award'.

The judging panel, comprising members of the Central Banking editorial staff and former central bank governors sitting on the journal's advisory board, cited Draghi's unflappable conviction and outstanding leadership of the ECB as playing a vital role in restoring confidence in the eurozone.

The judging panel noted how well the ECB as an institution has been able to act and be understood in the financial markets – despite significant differences of opinion among its various constituents. Much of the credit for this was attributed to Draghi's tireless efforts to drive consensus where possible. -0-