Ireland is exiting the bailout program

Three years after asking for help from international creditors, Ireland has been given the green light to exit the bailout program. The European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have approved the latest phase of an €85 billion bailout program, paving the way for Dublin to return to the markets by the end of the year. "Ireland has successfully concluded the 12th and last revision of the aid program," the Ministry of Finance of that country announced, reports Bankamagazin. The Government announced that they had successfully laid the foundations for the exit from the EU and IMF aid program on December 15 and a complete return to the markets. Ireland's success story is badly needed by Brussels to prove that austerity policies work, but it may not work for other bailed-out eurozone members, as Ireland has not had as many structural problems as Greece and Portugal.