Greece to repay more eurozone bailout loans ahead of schedule

Greece will next month repay ahead of schedule 5.3 billion euros ($5.8 billion) of loans owed to eurozone countries under its first bailout, and hopes to repeat the move in 2024, Finance Ministry officials told Reuters on Tuesday.

The eurozone and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) together lent Greece more than 260 billion euros during its decade-long debt crisis which began in late 2009, in exchange for tough austerity measures.

The country's third bailout expired in 2018.

"On December 15, we will repay earlier than expected 5.3 billion euros to eurozone countries," an official who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters, adding that the payment refers to loans maturing in 2024 and 2025.

Greece recently regained its investment grade credit rating after languishing for 13 years in the "junk" category.

Last year, it paid off the IMF, which...