Ireland and Spain said Thursday they could stand on their own feet once their bailout programs end in the coming months, marking significant steps as the euro zone battles to exit a four-year debt crisis.
The currency union's finance ministers hailed the decisions as signs that their strategy of budget cuts, economic overhauls and long-term rescue loans was working.

Spanish finance chief, Luis de Guindos, left, with his Italian peer, Fabrizio Saccomanni, in Brussels on Thursday. Zuma Press

"This shows that our policy of stabilization of the European currency is successful and right," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said as he arrived for a meeting with his euro-zone counterparts in Brussels.
But the moves by Dublin and Madrid not to seek extensions of their aid plans also carry risks, especially as new figures showed that the euro zone grew just 0.1% in the third quarter and the European Central Bank embarks on a thorough cleanup of banks' balance sheets.
"This is the right decision for Ireland, and now is the right time to take this decision," Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny told lawmakers in Dublin after a meeting with his cabinet. "This is the latest in a series of steps to return Ireland to normal economic, budgetary and funding conditions."
Spain's Finance Minister Luis de Guindos said in Brussels that "the closure of Spain's banking bailout is good news for both the Spanish and the European economy." "This is a clean break, and now we have a banking system that is more solid and more solvent, with every indicator pointing in the right direction," he added.
But both countries leave their bailouts with high debts—Ireland's is projected to hit 124% of gross domestic product by the end of year, while Spain's is expected to reach 94% of GDP—high unemployment and big deficits.

Busted banks that forced them to demand the help in the first place are struggling to return to profitability, while real-estate prices remain far below precrisis levels.
Lucinda Creighton, who was ousted as Ireland's Europe minister in July, tweeted that Dublin's decision not to ask for a precautionary credit line from the euro zone's bailout fund was a "risky strategy." She warned that the government's €20 billion ($27 billion) cash reserves could be depleted quickly if there were "further shocks" to the economy.
Ireland was forced to seek €67.5 billion in loans from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union three years ago. Spain borrowed some €40 billion from the euro zone to recapitalize its failing savings banks last year.
Though Ireland and Spain are leaving their international aid programs behind, the financial fate of Europe's other bailout recipients—Greece, Portugal and Cyprus—still remains uncertain.
Greece is expected to need a third round of loans next year, and European ministers on Thursday complained about slow implementation of budget cuts and reforms.
"The job is not yet done," said Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister who presided over the meeting of his counterparts.
Portugal's €78 billion bailout runs out in June and, in contrast to Ireland and Spain, its sovereign debt still faces very high interest rates. Many economists expect its exit from the rescue program to be less smooth than those of Ireland and Spain. "The Irish decision is no precedent, and we will judge these issues in the future on a case-by-case and a country-by-country basis," said the EU's Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn.
The European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF, which have been looking after the implementation of the Irish and Spanish bailout programs, until recently had advocated an extension of financial assistance, especially for Dublin. But on Thursday, they expressed confidence that Ireland could manage its own affairs.
Kristin Lindow, senior vice president at Moody's Investor Services, said that Ireland had based that decision on credible reasons but that it was unlikely to affect her agency's junk rating of the country's debt.
Ireland's Mr. Kenny acknowledged the difficulties ahead in a special sitting of the Irish Parliament earlier in the day. "Neither today's decision, nor the exit from the bailout in December, means the end of difficult economic decisions," he said. "There are still demanding times ahead."
—Paul Hannon in London, Matina Stevis and David Román in Brussels contributed to this article.