GREECE is on track to reach a final deal on June 21 on fully exiting its international bailout in August.
That’s despite there still being a lot work to do, with inspectors due to return to Athens next month for a final review, creditors said.
Speaking in Sofia, Bulgaria, after a meeting of the finance ministers of the European Union’s 19-member eurozone, finance commissioner Pierre Moscovici said Greece was essentially on track to meet its reform commitments, “but there are still a few efforts to be conducted”.
Among key issues are the handling of banks’ soured loans and property foreclosures.
Greece is set to emerge from its third and final bailout on August 20 after eight years of relying on emergency loans from international creditors.
In return, it has had to push through repeated rounds of deep spending cuts, structural reforms and privatisations and its economy has been under strict supervision by its creditors.
The government has committed to continuing reforms after the end of the bailout, but has resisted the idea preferred by some, including the country’s central bank, of taking a so-called precautionary credit line – a back-up loan it could use as it eases back into international bond markets.
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