13 April 2019 13:10
This text has been translated using machine translation. Possible incorrect translation.
The Greek Ministry of Finance notified the IMF of its intention to repay the fund loans ahead of schedule
Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos notified the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, of the intention of the Greek government to proceed with early partial repayment of IMF loans, the AMNA Athens news agency reported.
The meeting with Lagarde was held at the headquarters of the IMF in the framework of the spring meeting of the Foundation in the presence of the representative of Greece at the IMF Michalis Psalidopoulos.
Tsakalotos explained that Greece wants to repay the so-called expensive part of the IMF loan, which amounts to 3.8 billion euros and has an interest rate of 5.1%.
Greece’s total debt to the fund is 9.8 billion euros.
-----
For her part, Lagarde noted that she agrees and that the IMF is pleased with this development of events.
Regarding the procedure, it is expected that official information will be provided for the Foundation, the ESM and the Eurogroup, since the approval of the parliaments of some countries, such as Germany, is required. This procedure should be followed, since the ESM, like the IMF, is in the status of a “preferred creditor”, which means that the states participating in the European Mechanism must agree with the payments to the Fund.
Immediately after the meeting with Lagarde, the Greek Minister met with the Director of the European Department of the IMF, Paul Thomsen, who had previously announced that the Fund welcomes the early repayment of Greek loans.
Earlier, Tsakalotos said that Athens wants to repay the debt to the IMF ahead of schedule, since this is a very expensive loan. The ESM (European Stability Mechanism) loans, which constitute the bulk of the total debt, were issued at 1.5%.
-----
For several years, Greece was deprived of the possibility of crediting in the international financial markets due to the deep economic crisis. The country received loans through financial assistance programs from a troika of international lenders in exchange for reforms and a belt tightening policy.
In August 2018, Greece withdrew from credit programs, which lasted eight years.
In 2018, the national debt of Greece amounted to more than 357 billion euros, or 192.4%. In 2017, the national debt amounted to 328.704 billion euros (182.4% of GDP). This increase in public debt due to the fact that Greece received a large amount before exiting the loan agreement for the "airbag" (cash buffer).
ATHENS, Apr 13 - RIA News
A note on the site "ABCD Web Design" - from: Alice
