Portugual reimburses IMF 6.6 bln euros early

Portugal has reimbursed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) 6.6 billion euros (about 7 billion U.S. dollars), around 20 percent of what it owes, Portugal's debt agency IGCP revealed on Thursday.

The IMF lent Portugal 26.9 billion euros under its 78-billion-euro bailout program which the country signed with the troika of international lenders -- the European Commission, the IMF and the European Central Bank in May 2011, when it was on the verge of bankruptcy.

The Portuguese government recently revealed it is planning to pay its 14-billion-euro IMF debt early to take advantage of low borrowing costs for European peripheral governments.

Portugal has followed in the footsteps of Ireland and recently sold 1.499 billion euros in 10-year bonds at an average yield of 2.0411 percent.

The IMF representatives, who arrived in Lisbon on March 5 to carry out its annual assessment of the Portuguese economy, has been critical of Portugal's progress and recently said it doubts that Portugal will be able to bring down its deficit target to below 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

The Portuguese economy is improving, with its GDP expanding in the fourth quarter at the fastest rate in a year. However, its debt is around 125 percent of GDP and unemployment also remains staggeringly high, standing at 13.9 percent at the end of 2014.

Portugal's lenders have said the country must continue its efforts and has warned that the country must focus more on reform. (1 euro = 1.06 U.S. dollars) Endit