It’s up to the Greek government to decide over an early payoff of loan debts owed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), spokesman Gerry Rice said on Thursday.
At the same time, Gerry Rice acknowledged that such a move could lessen Greece’s overall borrowing costs, given that loans extended to thrice bailed-out Greece in the first and second memorandum are accompanied by higher interest rates that loans by European creditors.
Rice made the statement in response to a question by the Hellas Journal website, which asked if the Tsipras government has broached the Fund over such a possibility.
At the same time, he said an early repayment of obligations to the Fund will not affect the country’s post-bailout supervision, which he stressed will continue as normal.
Asked about the specter of “bad debt” hanging over Greece’s four systemic banks, Rice merely referred to a pending report by the Fund on the Greek economy, which will be released on Tuesday.
