ATHENS, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Greek government and European officials hailed the decision reached by the Eurogroup approving Greece's final review and debt relief measures on Thursday, as a historic moment ending an era of financial rescue programs for Greece. However, some experts expressed doubts regarding elements of the deal.
The Greek debt relief agreement is a success, but light austerity is still here, Konstantinos Vergos, Senior Lecturer of Portsmouth University in Financial Analysis, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Financial Management, told Xinhua on Friday.
According to the agreement, Greece could delay repayment on billions in loans by 10 years, while also get the fifth and final tranche of 15 billion euros of the third Greek bailout program which ends in August.
"We can return to the markets. Development will not be for the few, but for the many, and this is the promise of the Greek government," Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said after the deal in Luxembourg.
"This is an exceptional, a historic moment," European Finance Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said.
He also stated that "there will be no new program for Greece, but enhanced surveillance, as foreseen by the European laws".
"Debt relief came as the political balances in the European Union have recently changed in a pro growth direction, and the German supporters of hard-line austerity have lost the absolute control they had previously," Vergos noted.
At the same time, the Greek government fulfilled the terms agreed with the creditors, while U.S. pressures also favored in this direction, the expert said.
"But the relief is related to new commitments. It is a success of the government, but not an absolute success, as the German leadership managed to continue the implementation of a light austerity program in a disguised way," Vergos stressed.
"Germany seems to continue to have a vision of austerity for the European South that serves the interests of its own big companies pursuing poverty zones in Europe and elsewhere," the scholar argued.