In 1955, he became Governor of the Bank of Greece, a position he held until 1981, at the except for the years from 1967 to 1974, during the period of the dictatorship, during which he resigned.

On November 23, 1989, when the result of the legislative elections showed no majority, neither in favor of PASOK of Andréas Papandreou, nor in favor of the New Democracy party of Konstantínos Mitsotákis, Zolótas, then aged 85, accepted the post of interim prime minister until a new election is organized.

A true workaholic, a keen swimmer even in winter, he made it a point of honor to swim every morning, even though he was in his nineties.

On October 2, 1959, at an IBRD meeting in New York, he delivered, in English, a speech that remained famous, containing almost only words of Greek etymology1.

Two of his speeches in English at the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development are considered to be historic and notable because they contained mainly terms of Greek origin.