Gov’t plans early repayment of eurozone bailout loans this year

The government plans an early repayment of up to €5 billion of bailout loans to eurozone countries this year, two government officials told Reuters on Tuesday.

The eurozone and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lent Greece about €280 billion during the crisis on the condition that it impose tough austerity measures.

An official who requested anonymity told Reuters the government planned to repay between €2.5 billion and 5 billion to eurozone countries, “probably in the second half of the year.”

The official said this would help the country make room for more bond issues without increasing its debt, while adding liquidity to a shallow Greek bond market. About 70% of the country’s debt is held by its official lenders, the eurozone and the European Central Bank.

A second official confirmed the sum and timeline.

Greece recently regained its investment grade after languishing for 13 years in the “junk” category, which helped it attract strong demand from foreign investors in its bond issues.

With the planned payment this year, Greece will have repaid about €15 billion-17 billion from the first bailout loans.

In 2022, the country paid off the IMF two years ahead of schedule and in 2023 it repaid €5 billion of loans to eurozone countries.

The country’s third bailout expired in 2018 and since then it has relied solely on debt markets for its borrowing needs. [Reuters]