Greece wants to tap bond markets next year, says debt relief will help

Athens: Greece aims to tap bond markets next year, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told a Greek newspaper on Saturday, after Athens started talks with creditors earlier this week on how to make the country's debt burden more manageable.
Cut off from global credit markets since 2014, Greece signed up to a third multi-billion euro bailout last July.
Tsipras's leftist government hopes to conclude a review of its progress on reforms at a meeting of euro zone finance ministers on May 24, a step that would unlock funds in time for upcoming repayments to the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well as state suppliers.
Greece hopes the meeting will also yield progress on measures to ease its debt burden, which is set to reach 182.8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, according to European Commission forecasts.
"We will return to the markets in 2017," Tsipras said in an interview with Realnews newspaper, part of which was carried on the weekly's website.
Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said last year a long-term commitment to debt relief from euro zone countries was crucial to restoring investor confidence in the country and that Athens could start borrowing on the bond market again by the end of 2016.
Treasury bills are for now Greece's main source of short-term funding.
Tsipras was re-elected in September on promises to mitigate the impact of austerity on Greeks, already weary of five years of spending cuts and tax hikes.
"We might exit the bailout once and for all a lot before the programme expires in August 2018," Tsipras said.
In another local newspaper interview, Deputy Prime Minister Yannis Dragasakis said Athens wanted a debt relief deal that would help the country access debt markets in 2017 and allow for sustainable primary budget surpluses.
"The (Greek) government is seeking a solution which will fulfil specific criteria, among those is the criterion of economic viability," Dragasakis said in an interview with Naftemporiki paper."The arrangement should facilitate Greece's exit to the debt markets within next year."
He added that a conclusion of the reform review would lead to the European Central Bank reinstating a waiver for Greek banks, allowing them access to cheaper funding.
He said it would also boost funding to the country by allowing to be included in the ECB's asset-buying programme.
"I estimate that a total of 9 billion-12 billion euros could come into the real economy within 2016, which along with other factors will help economic recovery," Dragasakis said.
Greece's economic output shrank by 0.4 percent in the first quarter and the country hopes it could return to growth in the second half after years of recession.