Greece’s finance minister has defended the government’s push to repay debt early, saying it shaves hundreds of millions of euros off annual interest bills and creates more room in the budget to support households and growth.
Kyriakos Pierrakakis, who also chairs the Eurogroup, said in a video posted on social media that for every 1 billion euros repaid ahead of schedule, Greece saves about 30 million euros a year in interest.
He said that of the 52.9 billion euros in loans from the first bailout, 26.5 billion euros had been retired early by the end of 2025, and that a further 12.8 billion euros is being paid off early this year.
“From this alone we save 370 million euros a year — 2.6 billion over seven years,” Mr. Pierrakakis said. He rejected opposition demands to channel the savings into direct handouts, saying EU fiscal rules do not allow such funds to be turned into one‑off benefits.
“What this means in practice is more fiscal space to support citizens and development, and greater freedom for the country to set its own policies,” he said.
“To stop being one of the most indebted countries in the world and the most indebted in Europe. And certainly not to send the bill to our children again. Our generation inherited the burden. We will not pass it on to the next.”
The comments come as Athens presses ahead with additional early redemptions aimed at lowering its debt ratio and improving its standing with investors and rating agencies.
Officials argue that cutting interest costs now will make it easier to fund social and investment priorities later without breaching EU spending limits.