Greek financial markets rally on deal paving to bailout exit
ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s financial markets rallied Friday on news that the country’s creditors have agreed to debt relief measures that pave the way for an end to the nation’s eight-year bailout program in two months.
Bond markets rose, leading to a drop in the government’s borrowing rates. The yield on Greece’s benchmark 10-year bond eased 0.2 percentage points to 4.1 per cent. The main stock index was up 1.6 per cent.
The agreement concluded overnight in Luxembourg by finance ministers from fellow members of the 19-member eurozone grants Greece a ten-year extension in repaying a large chunk of its crippling debt load.
It also provides the country with enough ready cash to coast it over nearly two more years, without having to resort to expensive international bond markets after bailout loans run out in August.