Greece on Monday successfully completed its Eurozone bailout programme worth €61.9 billion (Rs 4.9 lakh crore), the third and last such loan provided by the European Union. The whole bailout programme is worth over €260 billion (Rs 20.7 lakh crore), and it will help the country pay off its creditors.

The third bailout was provided by an intergovernmental organisation called the European Stability Mechanism to support the Greek government’s efforts to reform the economy and recapitalise banks.

“For the first time since early 2010 Greece can stand on its own feet,” The Guardian quoted Mario Centeno, the chairperson of the European Stability Mechanism, as saying. “This was possible thanks to the extraordinary effort of the Greek people, the good cooperation with the current Greek government and the support of European partners through loans and debt relief. It took much longer than expected but I believe we are there.”

The Greek economic crisis, which began in 2010, and the subsequent bailout programme led governments to institute austerity measures that are unpopular among the people. But Costas Meghir, an Athens-based economist with Yale University, told BBC that the end of the programme did not mean austerity was over. “In some sense, the Greek government has to be even more disciplined now, because it has to rely on foreign markets at reasonable interest rates to be able to borrow,” he added.

Greece has lost a quarter of its Gross Domestic Product in the last eight years, and unemployment soared to 27% before declining since 2016.

In June, Eurozone countries agreed to help Greece finish its bailout programme by August and aid its re-entry intoreenter the European market. The Eurozone ministers had also agreed to offer Greece cash payments of €600 million (Rs 4,740 crore) every six months until 2022 if it sticks to the economic methods it has promised its creditors.