ATHENS, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis Monday announced the abolishment of capital controls after four years.
"We fully restore normality to capital flows. Capital controls belong to the past as of today," he said in a speech at the Greek parliament.
Capital controls were introduced in Greece in late June 2015, when the previous government was negotiating the terms of a third bailout agreement with Greece's eurozone peers.
The European Central Bank decided at the time to pull the plug on emergency funding to Greek lenders, forcing a three week shutdown of banks and a 60 euro per day cap on cash machine withdrawals.
The restrictions on cash withdrawals have been gradually eased since then. The country's third bailout program since 2010 was concluded in August 2018, but limits on money transfers abroad still remained.
Restoring the free movement of capital will help to strengthen trust, attract investment and open the way for a further upgrade of the Greek economy's credit ratings. Greece is still rated in the sub-investment category by ratings agencies.
"It marks a return to normality and growing confidence," a Reuters report cited Governor of Bank of Greece Yannis Stournaras as saying.
The newly-elected Greek government has been keen to move swiftly to reassure markets that it intends to adopt business-friendly policies to attract investment, key to boost Greece's economic recovery.
The draft bill which will be tabled to the plenary in the coming days will foresee the full lifting of the last remaining limits on money transfers abroad.
Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras told lawmakers he would submit legislation to fully lift the restrictions effective from Sept. 1.
"Today a destabilising factor, an instability factor for the banking system is lifted," he told local media.
Greece has been restoring its access to international bond markets since August 2018. Private-sector deposits have also been slowly returning to its banking system.
