European Stability Mechanism

Last week's 15-year Greek government bond issue was successful, but not quite good enough for the state to immediately repay another section of the loans from the International Monetary Fund early.

The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) has appointed Paolo Fioretti as mission chief for Greece, replacing Nicola Giammarioli who held the post since 2015, the ESM said in a statement.

The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) on Thursday announced that the Board of Directors of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) decided to reduce to zero the step-up margin due from Greece for the period between 17 June 2019 and 31 December 2019, as part of the medium-term debt relief measures agreed for the country.

Lawmakers in Greece are preparing to vote on a series of one-off benefits that the new conservative government is justifying in terms of the country's better than expected budget performance.

Greece will have completed its early repayment of loans to the International Monetary fund by early December, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Thursday.

"It will be concluded in the next two to three weeks," Staikouras told a conference in the Greek city of Thessaloniki, referring to the early repayment of loans worth around 2.7 billion euros ($2.98 billion).

Greece's gross domestic product would have been cut in half if the financial crisis had been followed by a Greek exit from the eurozone in 2015, according to the head of the European Stability Mechanism, Klaus Regling.

The fact that Greece pays an interest rate of only 1.17 percent for its 10-year government debt is a sign that the country is now implementing a credible policy, the head of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Klaus Regling said in an interview published Wednesday.

International rating agency Moody's on Thursday described Greece's planned early repayment of part of the loans issued by the International Monetary Fund as a "credit positive." Amounting to 2.7 billion euros, the payment was approved on Monday by the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).

The boards of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) agreed on Monday to allow Greece to repay earlier a part of its expensive loan to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), without paying an equal amount to the two organizations.

The benefits of Greece's early repayment of a chunk of its loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lie mainly in improving debt sustainability in the long run, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) said in its recommendation to the Parliaments of eurozone member-states.