The reduction of public debt by at least 30 percentage points by 2030 and the next steps that will lead to new upgrades by rating agencies are expected to be the focus of the visit of the Minister of National Economy and Finance Kyriakos Pierrakakis to the Public Debt Management Organization.
While countries such as Italy and France will see their public debt increase, Greece is planning the next steps aimed at further reducing its debt to 140% of GDP in 2027 and 120% in 2030.
A first important step is the repayment of the 31.6 billion euros from the loan of the first memorandum 10 years earlier than 2041, which is the current schedule.
Early repayment of installments
This year, Greece will proceed with another early repayment of two more installments (after 2031) from the bilateral loans, amounting to 5.3 billion euros. The early repayment of bilateral loans entails a significant economic benefit for Greece as the country earns in interest.
By achieving the above goal, Greece will soon cease to be the country with the highest public debt as a percentage of GDP in the Eurozone.
According to the latest estimates of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Greece, along with Cyprus and Portugal, will be the European countries that will see their public debt decrease by more than 15 percentage points over the next five years. Meanwhile, the IMF estimates that Greek public debt, as a percentage of GDP, will fall to 125.1% of GDP in 2030.
Based on the report submitted to the European Commission on April 30, public debt amounted to 364.88 billion euros or 153.6% of GDP at the end of 2024, from 369.11 billion euros or 163.9% of GDP in 2023. This year, it is estimated that debt will decrease again by approximately 7.9 percentage points, falling to 362 billion euros or 145.7% of GDP.
Contact with the markets
Acknowledging that the investment climate has improved significantly and rating agencies proceeded with further upgrades of Greece’s creditworthiness, Athens will continue to maintain contact with the markets, despite the fact that more than 80% of its borrowing needs for this year have already been covered, either through the issuance of new bonds or through reissues.
An indication of the climate prevailing in the markets towards Greek bonds is that every time Greece taps the markets, the amount of offers reaches new highs. The last time was the double issuance through the reissue of bonds maturing in 2038 and 2054 in March, where offers reached a record high of 56 billion euros.
“Maintaining a high level of cash reserves, almost 40.2 billion euros at the end of March 2025, contributes significantly to achieving low financing costs and ensures the fulfillment of medium-term debt obligations,” according to the report submitted to the Commission
