Merkel says bailout period is over

German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated on Friday that the period of bailout programs is over in the eurozone after Greece’s progress.

Merkel told a press conference that the euro area is beyond the period of bailout programs, which began in 2010 with Greece’s first rescue, as “Greece has made major progress.”

She added that the outlook is positive for the bloc as “all economies are growing.”

It follows the announcement of average growth in the eurozone of 2.5 percent in 2017.

Greece has not yet announced its growth data for last year, which are expected on March 5.