WASHINGTON: Greece's successful bond issue on Thursday shows that the long-troubled economy is approaching the end of its crisis, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said.
"I see the issuance that took place today, which was massively oversubscribed, as an indication that Greece is heading in the right direction and that the water-testing that the authorities wanted to do is really successful," Lagarde told reporters at the World Bank/International Monetary Fund annual spring meetings.
"There is still a lot to be done, the program is not over, but this is a clear indication that the return to markets -- which is clearly the objective of any IMF program -- is on the horizon," she said.
Greece's finance ministry said that it raised 3.0 billion euros ($4.2 billion) as it saw strong demand Thursday for its first bond issue in four years.
Greece was frozen out of debt markets in 2010 after it revealed that it had falsified public accounts and turned to the IMF and European Union for a bailout.
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