Off the wire
• Trump says keeping "open mind" on Paris Agreement: report  • Peru defender Rodriguez in talks with Brazilian clubs  • Uruguayan national named as new UN military adviser  • Slovenian medical doctors suspend strike for two months  • Latvia adopts new national security plan  • Lithuania pledges to continue help to Ukrainian army  • Defense minister proposes senior military officer as Latvia's next defense chief  • Czech President Zeman sacks two ministers  • Ireland tops EU members of business-friendly tax regimes: study  • Egypt signs protocol to export grapes to China  
You are here: 　 Home

Portugal makes 2 bln euros early payment to IMF bailout fund

Xinhua, November 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Portugal made an early payment of its bailout fund to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) amounting to 2 billion euros (2.12 billion U.S. dollars), or 10 percent of its outstanding debt, the country's Secretary of State for Finance Mourinho Felix said Tuesday.

The reimbursement, which was due February 2019, will reduce the country's interest payments in 2017 and borrowing needs in 2018 and 2019.

The Finance Ministry also said in a statement that it will save 41 million euros in interest by reimbursing this amount.

While Portugal has been successful in raising money in bond auctions, the country's Socialist government is repaying money back early to recover investor confidence.

Portugal was rescued in 2011 with a 78-billion-euro bailout by the EU and the IMF which led to steep tax hikes and spending cuts.

The country ended that program in 2014, but government debt remains among the highest in the eurozone at around 130 percent of GDP. (1 euro = 1.06 U.S. dollars) Endit