Greece to leave EU surveillance framework on August 20

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Greece to leave EU surveillance framework on August 20

ATHENS Reuters -- Greece will leave the European Union's enhanced surveillance framework on August 20, a finance minister said on Wednesday. The move will allow the country greater freedom in making economic policy.

Since 2018, Greek economic developments and policy have been monitored by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund after Athens exited three international bailouts, totalling more than 260 billion euros, from the EU and the IMF between 2010 and 2015.

After 12 years a difficult chapter for our country comes to a close, said the minister, Christos Staikouras. Greece returns to normal European life and will not be an exception in the euro zone. Athens has delivered on the bulk of policy commitments and reforms it promised, and it has left the framework on August 20 after a letter from EU Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis and Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, he said.

Greece's emergence from enhanced surveillance will mean more freedom in implementing economic policy and will bring closer to the country's goal to regain investment grade status, Staikouras said.

Since exiting the bailouts in 2018, Greece relied solely on the markets for its financing needs.

The surveillance framework was designed to ensure continued adoption of measures to tackle potential sources of economic difficulty and structural reforms to support sustainable economic growth.