Berlin: The head of the EU's bailout fund voiced confidence yesterday that Greece would not require a new aid package in 2018 after its current international rescue programme runs out.
"If it makes good use of the next 18 months, I am confident that (the third aid package) would be the last for Greece," Klaus Regling (pictured), head of the European Stability Mechanism, told the German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
"Greece has made progress... I am going on the principle that Greece would fly with its own wings from mid-2018 and would be able to obtain its own funds from the markets," added Regling. Greece obtained its third international rescue package worth 86 billion euros in 2015, with the bailout funds paid out in several tranches in exchange for specific reforms.
But with the latest round of bailout reform negotiations in a deadlock, fears have resurfaced that the country could crash out of the eurozone.
In a bid to break the impasse with its EU-IMF creditors, Athens on Monday agreed to discuss new reforms.
It desperately needs to secure the latest tranche of bailout cash to meet seven billion euros ($7.4 bn of new debt payments in July or risk defaulting on its loans. Regling's optimistic assessment came hours before IMF chief Christine Lagarde is due to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin over the issue that has divided the two.
The IMF recently has threatened to walk away from the aid package as it believes that Greece is not in a position to repay its debt.
