Eurogroup supports Ireland's decision to exit bailout

Eurogroup said late Thursday that it supports the decision of Ireland to exit from the bailout program in the coming weeks. The statement came hours after the Irish government said it would "make a clean exit" from its three-year international bailout in the coming weeks without recourse to a precautionary line of credit. "We fully support the Irish government's decision to exit the programme without requesting any successor financial assistance," Eurogroup said in a statement after eurozone finance ministers. "After an impressive turnaround, favorable financing terms demonstrate the regained trust of investors in the Irish sovereign," it added. While congratulating the Irish authorities for the successful implementation of the programme, the Eurogroup praised the "very good work" done thus far in terms of fiscal consolidation and structural reforms. These efforts have allowed Ireland to return to a path of sustainable growth and job creation, as evidenced by the nascent economic recovery, declining, although still high, unemployment and improving business confidence, it said. The European bailout fund is expected to make a last disbursement of 0.8 billion euros (about 1.1 billion U.S. dollars) in January once the final review is formally completed in early December, according to the statement. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is also expected to disburse a final 0.6 billion euros subject to the approval of the review by its Executive Board, it added.