By T. Tsiros
Regardless of the continuing speculation and back-and-forth comments over whatever Greek debt relief, Athens apparently doesn’t have any major debt servicing obligations until the end of the year and through the first quarter of 2017.
Athens is set to receive 2.8 billion euros left over from the first review of the Greek program in the spring, as well as 6.2 billion euros in bailout loans expected after the second review, once the latter is hopefully completed by early December 2016.
Subsequently, 3.7 billion euros will be used to clear state arrears owed to suppliers, contractors and other private sector interests.
Debt servicing, however, in the fourth quarter of 2016 will only cost the Greek government 500 million euros, plus 600 million euros for interest payments.
According to detailed figures released in Athens, one payment owed to the IMF remains for 2016, totaling 298.6 billion euros, which dates from the second memorandum signed by the then Greek government in 2012.
January and February 2017 are also without any serious debt obligations, whereas March 17, 2017 is the deadline for payment of a 144.9-billion-euro installment to the IMF.
In total, the first trimester of 2017 includes dtransferred ebt servicing totaling 300 million euros. However, the real burden during the same period is 2.3 billion euros that must be allocated for paying off accumulated interest.
The first serious obligation of 2017 is maturing of Greek state bonds held by the ECB, worth 1.185 billion euros, and dated April 20. Another 168 million euros of maturing debts are held by central banks of eurozone member-states.
The biggest obligations, however, come in July 2017, with a tranche of three-year bonds maturing on July 17, followed the very next day with an IMF installment of 289.8 billion euros. Two days later, on July 20, marks a deadline for paying off bonds held by the ECB and eurozone area central banks, totaling a whopping 5.3 billion euros, sans accumulated interest.
Whatever Greek government is in power during the third quarter of 2017 will face payments of 7.2 billion euros in amortization costs, plus 1.7 billion in interest – all total: 9.9 billion euros.
