Greece ends bailout odyssey, but Athens not in festive mood
PM Alexis Tsipras will address Greece regaining its fiscal sovereignty
Athens, Aug. 20: Greece emerged from the biggest bailout in economic history on Monday after nine years of creditor- mandated austerity, with European institutions hailing the exit a success but jaded Greeks finding little reason to celebrate.
The milestone weans the debt- burdened euro zone member off financial lifelines offered on three occasions by creditors over the best part of a decade, and the country will now need to support itself.
Athens will rely on bond markets to refinance its debt, officially leaving behind a crisis that shrank its economy by a quarter and pushed many into poverty.
“Nothing changes for us,” shrugged Christos Iosifidis, an 80- year- old pensioner. “We are a bankrupt country, and it won’t change for many more years.”
Since early 2010, Greece has relied on more than 260 billion euros ($ 300 billion) lent by its euro zone partners and the International Monetary Fund.
The European Stability Mechanism ( ESM), the euro zone’s bailout fund, expressed confidence that Athens could manage without an international financial safety net.
“Today we can safely conclude the ESM programme with no more followup rescue programmes as, for the first time since early 2010, Greece can stand on its own feet,” Mario Centeno, the chairman of the ESM’s board of governors, said in a statement.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is expected to address the nation on Tuesday to mark Greece regaining fiscal sovereignty and the ability set its own economic policies.
Greek media reported he would symbolically make the speech on Ithaca, the island where Odysseus returned home from the Trojan war after a 10- year voyage recounted by Greek classical poet Homer. “We are entering a new era for the Greek economy and Greece,” government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos told Real FM.
“The Greek people should celebrate,” ESM’s head Klaus Regling told Sunday’s Ethnos newspaper. “Tomorrow, I will celebrate it with a good glass of ouzo.” But with unemployment just under 20 per cent, the mood on the streets of Athens was far from festive.