ESM's Regling: Greece under tight watch post-bailout

Greece will be more tightly monitored after it exits its bailout program than other eurozone countries that received similar loans, the head of the bloc's rescue mechanism told a Greek newspaper on Sunday.

Athens exited its latest bailout on Monday and now relies on bond markets to refinance its debt after a near nine-year debt crisis that shrank its economy by a quarter and forced it to implement painful austerity measures.

"Greece is exceptional. It has received much more loans from us than any other country," European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Managing Director Klaus Regling told Ethnos newspaper in an interview.

Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Cyprus, which borrowed from the ESM, were also monitored after the end of their assistance programs.

"No other program country has received anything comparable. Therefore, the monitoring will be tighter than in the...