Greek finance minister says bailout deal will take country forward

By Foo Yun Chee and Alexander Saeedy BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said on Friday that a bailout deal reached with the country's international creditors will take Greece forward as it will create a more stable financial system without harming bank depositors. "It takes Greece forward in the sense that the financial system should be much more stable from now onwards. There is a promise of recapitalisation of the banks, without any of the depositors having to bail in or anything to worry about," he told reporters. "The process of reversing the negative effects of capital controls will start very quickly and will speedily return the banks to where they were before, hopefully on a far firmer footing," Tsakalotos said. The comments came after finance ministers from the euro zone agreed, after six hours of talks, to lend Greece up to 86 billion euros. However Tsakalotos said the success of the country's third bailout will depend on how Greeks respond to the challenges of tough reforms. "Any deal is only as good as what you make of it. Let's hope the Greek people will be able to make the best of this deal," he said. Tsakalotos also praised his fellow Greeks and the creditors for their efforts, striking a different tone from his predecessor Yanis Varoufakis, who angered other EU leaders with his brash approach. "This agreement is one that many have worked hard for. I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart both people in Greece and the technical teams and the advisers who have worked for this deal, and also the institutions. Many Europeans have worked for this deal," he said. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee and Alexander Saeedy; Editing by Toni Reinhold)