Greece pays off more dues early
Greece proceeded on Friday with the early repayment of two installments of bilateral loans, as it had long planned, almost halving its financing needs for the next two years, while deflating the cushion of cash reserves, which was designed to decrease after the recovery of investment grade.
Greece repaid 5.29 billion euros from the well-known Greek Loan Facility (GLF) regarding the installments that expired in 2024 and 2025, while a similar movement is planned for 2024. The loans – whose maturities extend until 2041 – were given to Greece under the first bailout agreed in May 2010 and included bilateral loans from eurozone countries (€52.9 billion) and the IMF (€20.1 billion).
In April 2022, Greece paid off the IMF in full and early, while last December it also proceeded with the early repayment of the 2023 tranche of the GLF, amounting to €2.645 billion. With the new payment, Greece will have repaid a total of €13.3 billion of the GLF, including €8 billion in early repayments. The move eases the Greek debt profile further, while also reducing interest costs (savings of around €40 million) and improving investor confidence in the country.
