Greece Repays €5.29 Billion of First Bailout Loans Ahead of Schedule

Greece Accelerates Debt Reduction with €5.29 Billion Early Repayment

Athens, Greece – On Monday, December 15, 2025, Greece completed an early repayment of €5.29 billion in loans from its first bailout program, specifically targeting the Greek Loan Facility (GLF). This significant financial maneuver underscores the country's commitment to reducing its public debt and strengthening its fiscal position.

The repayment addresses bilateral loans originally provided by 14 eurozone countries as part of the 2010 bailout, which were not due to mature until between 2033 and 2041. The funds for this repayment were drawn from Greece's dedicated cash reserve account.

Strategic Financial Benefits and Market Confidence

The decision to prepay these loans was driven by several strategic objectives. Primarily, it aims to reduce Greece's substantial public debt and generate significant savings on future interest costs. The Finance Ministry projects an estimated saving of approximately €1.6 billion in interest payments through 2041. These GLF loans carried variable interest rates, making early repayment a prudent step to mitigate exposure to potential rate increases.

The move also serves to improve Greece's debt structure and enhance its borrowing profile, sending a positive signal to international financial markets. Pierre Gramegna, Managing Director of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), stated, 'Greece continues to make significant progress in strengthening its economy. This additional early repayment of the GLF loan sends another positive signal to financial markets, improves Greece's debt structure and reflects the country's improving fiscal position.'

Approval and Broader Debt Management Strategy

The early repayment received crucial approval from the boards of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). These institutions waived a standing rule that would have required Greece to make proportional repayments to other creditors, allowing Athens to specifically target the higher-interest GLF debt.

This repayment is part of a broader, aggressive debt management strategy initiated by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in 2023. Greece's objective is to fully repay all remaining GLF obligations by 2031, a decade ahead of their original maturity dates. Including this latest installment, Greece has now prepaid approximately €29 billion in bailout debt, which also encompasses the full clearance of its International Monetary Fund (IMF) loans in 2022.

Economic Outlook and Future Projections

The Greek government anticipates that these efforts will lead to a significant reduction in its public debt-to-GDP ratio. Projections indicate that the ratio will fall below 140% of GDP for the first time since 2011, and is expected to drop below 120% by 2029. Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis has articulated the country's ambition, stating, 'Our target is to stop being the most indebted country in Europe in the next years.' This fiscal trajectory is also expected to pave the way for further credit-rating upgrades in the coming years.