Greece repays euro zone bailout loans early for first time-source

ATHENS (Reuters) -Greece has repaid ahead of schedule 2.7 billion euros ($2.87 billion) of loans owed to euro zone countries under the first bailout it received during its decade-long debt crisis, a finance ministry official told Reuters on Thursday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed a Reuters report in September that Greece planned to repay euro zone bailout loans earlier as part of its efforts to improve its debt sustainability.

“We repaid today, ahead of schedule, 2.7 billion euros,” the official said.

The euro zone and the International Monetary Fund together lent Greece more than 260 billion euros during the crisis which broke out in late 2009, in exchange for tough austerity measures.

The country emerged from its third international bailout in 2018 and since then has relied solely on bond markets to cover its borrowing needs.

Athens paid off the IMF, which provided it with 28 billion euros between 2010 and 2014, in April, two years ahead of schedule.

Euro zone countries lent Greece 53 billion euros in bilateral so-called Greek Loan Facility (GLF) loans during its first bailout, with maturities spreading to 2041. With the planned payment Greece will have repaid a total of 8 billion euros, the official said.

($1 = 0.9406 euro)

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