Greece is likely to repay its first bailout loans worth €53 billion by 2029 – two years ahead of schedule – thanks to strong public finances and growth, two officials told Reuters on Wednesday.
Greece, which was on the brink of leaving the euro zone at the peak of its 2009 to 2018 financial crisis, had the highest public debt in the euro zone over the past two decades. Its debt has shrunk by more than 60 percentage points to 145.9% of its gross domestic product last year and is expected to fall below Italy’s to 136.8% of GDP this year.
Athens said last year that it would repay by 2031 bilateral loans granted by euro zone countries in 2010 under the Greek Loan Facility – the first of three bailout packages totaling around €289 billion – 10 years before they expire in annual instalments of €5 billion.
However, it repaid earlier this year a bigger instalment of €6.9 billion, with the outstanding balance at €19.5 billion.
“It’s highly possible that we will fully repay the first bailout loans by 2030 or even by 2029, instead of 2031,” one of the officials said.
