MILAN (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said his country would not hold snap elections next year, as it is successfully navigating its way out of an international bailout, including by discussing a potential credit line as a backstop against future market turmoil.
"We will eliminate concerns of political risk," Samaras said in an interview on the sidelines of a summit among European and Asian leaders. "Elections will be held in June 2016, at the end of the four-year parliamentary term."
In the interview, Samaras reiterated the country was planning to come out of its international funding programme, under which Greece has so far received 240 billion euros, earlier than expected. A selloff in Greek bonds this week has led some to question whether Greece would indeed stick to a plan to emerge from the programme by year-end.
"We can now stand on our own feet. We have the resources to come out of the programme," he said.
The Greek prime minister said his country would also continue to push for structural reforms to its economy, public administration and justice system because this was "our ticket to sustainable growth."
(Reporting by Alessandra Galloni)
