Greece to stay on supervision post bailout, Eurogroup chief tells paper

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece will remain under supervision after it exits its current bailout programme next year, the head of the group of euro zone finance ministers told a Greek newspaper on Saturday. Greece aims to exit its 86-billion-euro (£76.1 billion) bailout, its third since its debt crisis exploded in 2010, in August next year. By then, Athens hopes to have fully returned to market financing. "In all cases we have applied supervision after the completion of support programmes, as happened in Ireland, Spain, Cyprus," Jeroen Dijsselbloem told Ta Nea newspaper. "We will have a supervision programme for Greece as well, especially when there are outstanding loans with long maturities," he was quoted as saying. Dijsselbloem is expected in Athens on Monday to meet Greek officials, including Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos. Tsakalotos has said he does not expect Greece to need a precautionary credit line from its official lenders when it exits its bailout next year. "The common goal of the Greek government and its European partners must be that August 2018 will be the end of the (bailout) programme. We must ensure that Greece will be fully prepared," Dijsselbloem told the paper. He said Greece's economy is faring better after a deep, multi-year recession but reforms should continue for the remainder of the bailout programme and after August 2018. "The chronic and structural problems were among the crucial factors that led Greece to the crisis," Dijsselbloem said. (Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; Editing by Edmund Blair)