Greece has completed the early repayment of the high-interest part of an outstanding International Monetary Fund loan worth 2.7 billion euros ($2.9 billion) on Monday, the Finance Ministry announced.
The action had received the required approval from European bailout lenders and will help Greece lower its debt servicing costs by taking advantage of favorable market rates.
The statement by the Finance Ministry says that the repayment improves Greece’s creditworthiness, reduces the cost of borrowing and the amount of future installments. It also improves the public debt’s liability and further enhances international markets’ confidence in Greece.
Greek government bond yields have fallen sharply in recent months, rivaling rates in fellow-euro zone member Italy and assisting Greece’s return to the market. The yield on Greece’s 10-year bond late Monday was 1.37 percent, tumbling from nearly 4 percent at the start of this year.