The euro zone’s bailout fund agreed on Thursday to Cyprus repaying 6.3 billion euros ($6.9 billion) of costly loans from the International Monetary Fund, so that the country can replace them with cheaper loans from the market.

Under the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) deal, Cyprus can pay back the loans it drew from the IMF during the sovereign debt crisis before they expire, but must be ready then to repay the same amount of loans it took from the Eurozone fund.

But the ESM agreed on Thursday to waive this right.

Read more: reuters