Commission proposes end of Excessive Deficit Procedure for Greece

The European Commission announced yesterday that it has recommended to the European Council the closing of the Excessive Deficit Procedure for Greece. This follows the substantial efforts in recent years made by the country to consolidate its public finances coupled with the progress made in the implementation of the ESM support programme for Greece.

According to the EC, Greece has made significant progress in returning to a path of fiscal sustainability. The general government balance has improved from a deficit of 15.1% in 2009 to a surplus of 0.7% in 2016.

This is well below the 3% threshold set out in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. This is in addition to the substantial and wide-ranging structural reform packages that Greece has adopted as part of its commitments under the ESM stability support programme.   EU Commissioner Mr. Moscovici said that Greece is now a ‘more and more reliable country’ and the signal that investors need to receive is that ‘you can trust this country’; he added that a return to the markets will be the next step for Greece.

Source: capital.gr