Greece submits request to ESM for early repayment of the IMF

The Greek government will immediately proceed with the issuance of a new bond, with a three-year maturity

Greece has submitted a formal request to the European Stability Mechanism for the early repayment of IMF loans, according to a finance ministry source, paving the way for Greece to repay part of the IMF loans, amounting to EUR 3.7 billion out of a total of EUR 9.5 billion.

This is a precursor of a prolonged period of positive messages about the Greek economy, which will allow the country’s new foray to the capital markets to take place under more favorable conditions and even for the government to introduce more tax relief measures. In this context, the Japanese R&I rating agency upgraded the country’s creditworthiness to B+. The upgrading came on the eve of Eurostat’s release of the primary surplus for 2018, with the information speaking of at least 3.9% of GDP (possibly even 4% of GDP).

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