Greece reached a hard-fought debt relief deal with Eurozone nations, after talks that continued into the early hours of Friday morning.
The deal gives Greece more time to repay its €96.9 billion worth of loans, which were agreed after the country’s debt situation spiralled out of control. The period for repaying the loans has been extended, with Greece paying little or no interest.
The finance ministers of 19 Eurozone nations met on Thursday night to discuss the final stages of Greece’s eight-year bailout program, and the agreed deal has been hailed as “historic”.
EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said it would be the end of Greece’s debt crisis.
Greece faced serious financial difficulties back in 2010, when an initial plan to manage its budget deficit was agreed. Greece’s economy has since stabilised, but its debt still stands at around 180 percent of GDP.
Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras has been pushing hard for austerity measures, sending wages down by nearly 20 percent over the period and welfare payments cut by 70 percent.
Finance Minister Euclid Tsakaloto said, “I think Greece is turning a page.”
“I think that it has all the building blocks there to leave the programme with confidence that we can access the markets, that we can implement our growth strategy and turn the agenda away from one of fiscal adjustment, which has been completed, to one of growth.
“So I think it is a historic moment as people have said, a momentous moment.”