Greece plans to repay up to 5 billion euros of bailout loans to euro zone countries early this year as it seeks to return to normality after the debt crisis of the past decade, two government officials told Reuters.
An official who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters that the government plans to repay 2.5 – 5 billion euros in the eurozone countries “probably in the second half of the year.”
The same official said this would help the country create room for more bond issuance without increasing its debt, while adding liquidity to the Greek bond market. About 70% of Greek debt is held by its official creditors, the Eurozone and the European Central Bank.
A second official confirmed the amount and timing.
With this payment, this year, Greece will have repaid around 15 billion to 17 billion euros of the first bailout loans. In 2022, Greece repaid it IMF two years ahead of schedule and in 2023 it repaid 5 billion euros of loans to eurozone countries.
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