Greece to Drop Below Italy as Eurozone’s Most Indebted Nation
Greece is about to make a €6.9 billion early debt repayment in June that will, for the first time, push its debt-to-GDP ratio below Italy's, ending its long-standing status as the Eurozone's most indebted nation relative to economic output.
Government Spokesman Pavlos Marinakis confirmed the June timeline. The payment clears a major portion of Greece's first bailout loan from 2010, bringing the country's debt-to-GDP ratio to 136.8 percent, just below Italy's projected 138.6 percent according to EU forecasts.
Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis called it a 2.5 percent reduction in national GDP and said total early repayments of the original €52.3 billion Greek Loan Facility will reach roughly €28 billion. He said the move "sends an unequivocal message of fiscal strength to global markets and credit rating agencies."
Greece needed three international bailouts to avoid bankruptcy, making the milestone carry real symbolic weight. Athens is now targeting a second early repayment later this year, this time on loans held by the European Financial Stability Facility.
The government's debt targets are 130.3 percent of GDP by 2027 and below 120 percent by 2029. The June payment is timed deliberately ahead of an autumn credit rating review cycle, with DBRS, Moody's, Scope Ratings, and Fitch all scheduled to assess Greece's economy between September and November. Athens is hoping the repayment will push those agencies toward further upgrades within investment-grade territory.
