ATHENS: Greece has prepared the ground so that Tuesday’s visit by the troika of its international creditors could be the last review of its finances ahead of an early bailout exit.

Greece’s massive debt crisis nearly broke apart the eurozone. But after four years and a bailout worth up to 240 billion euros ($300bn), Athens has largely repaired its finances and is eager to get free from the EU and IMF’s tight budgetary and policy leash.

Talk of a new EU bailout when the current one expires in December has faded and instead officials now say it may end its IMF programme early.

“Greece won’t be needing a new bailout programme,” Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said at the weekend. “We can cope in the coming year, even without the remaining financial aid of the existing bailout programme,” he added.

Greece is slated to receive another 1.8bn euros from the EU by December.

Samaras also raised the possibility last week that Greece could drop its IMF programme early, which lasts until 2016 and under which 12.6bn euros remains to be disbursed.

“I believe this cooperation will be completed ahead of schedule. We will see what happens with the next bailout tranches,” Samaras said last week during a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.

That has set the stage for tense talks with the auditors from the European Union, IMF and European Central Bank, which previously insisted Greece undertake stiff budget and benefits cuts as well as reforms to improve economic performance.

Athens is expected to try to buy time concerning the implementation of crucial labour and insurance sectors reforms, scale down the 2015 budget surplus target and include tax breaks in the draft 2015 budget.

Published in Dawn, September 30th , 2014