Rough landing for government hopes of ‘clean exit’ from bailout

The Greek government’s hopes of a “clean exit” from the bailout memorandum in August may not be what Athens expects, as there will be heightened supervision following completion of the programme, according to Hans Vijlbrief, the new president of the Eurogroup’s working group (EWG).

In an interview with the daily Ta Nea, Vijlbrief stresses: “The first years after exiting the [bailout] programme will be the most decisive. We will have enhanced supervision by creditors so as to help Greece remain on the right path.”

He said this supervision will help “avert backpedaling on important reform efforts, and will help ensure that reforms that will be legislated in this period will be implemented over the coming years.”

The EWG chief said that, “If Greece receives debt relief, or conditional debt relief, it is reasonable that creditors will seek to monitor reforms, ensure that there are no reversals, and make sure that policies that have been agreed to are being implemented. It will require something between a normal post-programme surveillance and a precautionary programme.”

Vijlbrief noted the Greek government’s rejection of a precautionary, post-bailout credit line, but he underlined that Athens can always request such a credit line and that it is the most secure way to exit the current bailout programme, with some form of conditionality.