11:22

Over in Greece the government is heralding a new era free from the fiscal oversight of foreign creditors as the debt-stricken country marks its first few hours of post-bailout existence.

In a symbolic gesture Prime minister Alexis Tsipras has flown to the island of Ithaka to hail what he described as “a historic day … a day of redemption.”

“Today is a redemption day and the beginning of a new era,” he told the nation in a pre-recorded address overlooking Ithaka’s scenic waters.

Drawing on the symbolism of Ithaka being the island that Odysseus strove to get to after the end of the Trojan war, Tsipras insisted that like the Homeric hero, Greeks had finally ended their “own modern odyssey.”

Tsipras in Ithaka Photograph: Andrea Bonetti/Office of Greek prime minister

It had been an extraordinary time, one unprecedented in peacetime that had seen Greece lose 25 % of its GDP, three in ten of its citizens ejected from the workplace, six out of ten young Greeks also becoming jobless and a staggering €65bn in austerity measures being imposed on the nation.

“We will never forget what we have experienced … we have reached our destination and we have full knowledge that all is not over. New battles are ahead of us.”

But he added that now that Greeks had reached their “much desired” destination they would have the “strength” to build a country that they deserved, a Greece that not only averted the deficits that had brought it to the brink of bankruptcy but was constructed on equality , democracy and social justice.

“From today we start the new era of our country with vision and determination...Ithaki is only the beginning,” he said in the address.

As we reported yesterday Tsipras had originally hoped to mark the day with a visit to Castellorizo, where the country’s debt-drama began with its first bailout being announced, but dismissed that plan when it was felt that it would be more prudent to not overly celebrate the sombre moment.