Brussels, 30/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - The EFSF will be disbursing the next sub-instalment (€9.2 billion) to Greece, as decided by the Eurogroup (see EUROPE 10769). Some €2 billion of this will be paid out on Thursday 31 January and the remainder at a later date. Earlier this month, the IMF gave the go-ahead to disbursement of its own instalment.
Despite recent measures to reduce the Greek debt, like a writedown in the face value of bonds in private hands, the debt will remain high until 2016, says Moody's credit rating agency in a report published on Tuesday. Moody's says that private bond holders might have to suffer further losses on their remaining Greek bonds because of the weakness of the economy, the fragile social context and the difficult political environment. On the same day, Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said in an interview with the BBC that “a decline in the debt level would be welcome, as long as it does not cause damage in other countries”. (EL/transl.fl)