Following Greece's exit from the programme, it will have the active support of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as it works to repair the damage of austerity policies, the Secretary of the OECD - Greece Joint Steering Comittee Mario Lopez-Roldan said in statements to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA) on the sidelines of the 2018 Rhodes Forum for the Dialogue of Civilisations.

"I think it is a new era. Obviously there are structural issues and problems for the Greek economy that will not be easy to solve. But this is a very important moment because for the first time this government will have the opportunity to promote its own policies. Now that they are coming out of the programme, they have a new national development strategy, which is very focused on repairing the damage of austerity policies. They have the support of the OECD. We are working with Greece actively," he said.

Noting that the OECD Secretary General had recently met Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Lopez-Roldan said the OECD was optimistic and considered that "this government, for the OECD, is doing the right things to stabilise, win trust among investors and start addressing the tragic social crisis that Greece has gone through in the past years. That is a number one priority and for the OECD is a great area of opportunity to help Greece."

At the same time, he emphasised the need for stability and continuity: "I just met the chief of our desk in Greece and he was telling me that that growth prospects, GDP prospects are looking optimistic for the next two years. It will all depend, as well, on the political stability and the continuity of the policies - we don't know what's going happen in the elections next fall," he said.