Greece to Prepay Support Mechanism Loans in December

Athens, Greece – The Greek government has announced plans to repay nearly €8 billion in Support Mechanism loans ahead of schedule in December 2024. This early repayment is detailed in the draft state budget for 2025, which was presented to Parliament by National Economy Minister Kostis Hatzidakis on Monday.

The loans, totalling €7.935 billion, are part of the Greek Loan Facility and carry a fluctuating interest rate. They were initially scheduled to mature between 2026 and 2028. With this prepayment, Greece aims to reduce its overall debt burden and further solidify its economic recovery.

This move follows similar prepayments made in December 2022 and 2023, totaling €2.645 million and €5.290 million, respectively. As a result of these early repayments, the General Government Debt is expected to decline slightly from €356.7 billion in 2023 to €356.5 billion in 2024. When expressed as a percentage of GDP, the reduction is more significant due to the country's strong economic growth.

Looking ahead to 2025, the government forecasts a further decrease in the debt-to-GDP ratio to 149.1%. However, the nominal value of the debt is expected to increase to €361.4 billion.

To service its debt, the government allocated €6.98 billion in interest payments in 2024, which represents 3% of GDP. In 2025, this figure is projected to drop marginally to €6.9 billion, or 2.8% of GDP.