Greece is preparing to exit the last of three bailout programs on August 20 and hopes to be able to borrow again in international markets after the 9-year-old debt crisis that pushed the economy back down and forced it to carry out painful austerity measures.
Since the debt crisis erupted in early 2010, four successive governments have fought bankruptcy, relying on the largest bailout in history of more than 260 billion euros from Greek partners in the Euro zone and the International Monetary Fund.
The Greek economy, which contracted by 26 percent during the crisis years, began to grow again as tourism recovered and unemployment fell. The economy grew for the fifth quarter in a row in the first quarter of 2018 by 2.3% on yearly basis.
The debt relief agreed with Greece's partners in June, extending maturities on some loans and easing the burden on interest rates on some other loans would help Greece return to markets.
