ECB’s Lagarde hails Greece’s economic reform progress

In their first one-on-one meeting on Wednesday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde discussed Greece’s economy, with the ECB chief hailing the progress of reforms.

Greece’s commitment to reforms is reflected in the multitude of legislation adopted to date and the positive post-surveillance report by Greece’s creditors, sources quoted Lagarde as saying.

The talks, which took place at the ECB’s seat in Frankfurt, touched on Greece’s aim to reduce primary surplus targets, a subject which, Mitsotakis said, will start in the first half of 2020.

Mitsotakis and Lagarde also discussed the implementation of the Hercules project, aimed at reducing the volume of nonperforming loans burdening Greek banks, and lifting the restrictions the banks have from exposure to Greek bonds.