Governor of the Central Bank of Greece Yannis Stournaras looks on during an interview with Reuters at the bank's headquarters in Athens, Greece, November 8, 2016. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece’s foreign lenders should grant it further debt relief and lower its primary surplus targets after 2020 to help it qualify for inclusion in the European Central Bank’s asset-buying programme, central bank chief Yannis Stournaras said on Thursday.

Addressing industrialists in northern Greece, Stournaras said that Greece’s budget primary surplus targets should be maintained at 3.5 percent up to 2020 and be lowered to 2 percent of GDP after that period. The country’s current international bailout expires in 2018.

“The (suggestions) mentioned above will open the way for inclusion of Greek bonds in ECB’s quantitative easing programme, which will consequently facilitate access to debt markets and support economic recovery,” he said.