sentences:  After he graduated in commercial sciences, Alfons Verplaetse started his career at NBB the 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, he was one of the architects of the economic recovery policy launched by the February 1982 devaluation of the Belgian franc.