Greece completes three-year EU bailout programme

Will be able to borrow on financial markets for first time in eight years

Greece will be free to borrow money on its own terms for the first time in eight years after successfully completing a three-year eurozone bailout programme.

In the wake of its debt crisis, Greece was given loans amounting to more than €260bn by the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), under strict conditions that forced the country into a series of harsh austerity measures. Assessing the longer-term risks stemming from public sector indebtedness As part of the biggest bailout in global financial history, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) - a eurozone fund established to help its member nations deal with a financial crisis - provided Greece with €61.9bn over the three years, supporting the country's efforts to reform it...