Greece will make an early repayment of €5.29 billion ($6.16 billion) in loans under its first bailout program, the Greek Loan Facility (GLF), after the Boards of Directors of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) approved the move on Tuesday.
PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis pledged early repayment in 2023, in an effort to chip away at Greece’s public debt, which is estimated to be around €403.2 billion (as of June 2025) or approximately $433.9 billion.
Chipping away at Greece’s massive debt
This debt is 145.9% of GDP for 2025. This ratio is projected to continue decreasing.
In the 2026 budget presented recently, the Greek government expects public debt, the highest in the Eurozone, to drop by 7.7 percentage points to 138.2% of GDP in 2026 and to below 120% in 2029. “Our target is to stop being the most indebted country in Europe in the next years,” Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis said at a press conference presenting next year’s budget plan.
Pierre Gramenia, ESM Managing Director and EFSF CEO, said, “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. The ESM and EFSF remain committed to supporting the Greek authorities in their efforts to promote long-term growth and ensure debt sustainability.”
The repayment will use funds from a special cash reserve account created at the end of Greece’s adjustment program. The GLF, part of Greece’s first financial support program, agreed in May 2010, included bilateral loans from 14 eurozone countries totaling €52.9 billion euros, of which €31.6 billion euros remains outstanding. Greece completed repayment of its loans to the International Monetary Fund two years ahead of schedule in 2022.
