28/11/24 (Agence Europe) – On Thursday 28 November, the ‘European Stability Mechanism’ (ESM), the euro area’s permanent rescue fund, and the ‘European Financial Stability Facility’ (EFSF) decided to lift the mandatory repayment obligation on their loans to Greece as part of an early repayment by Athens to the ‘Greek Loan Facility’ (GLF). Introduced in 2010, the GLF is the first emergency fund to have provided financial support to Greece, to the tune of €52.9 billion up to 2015. Thanks to these derogations, Greece will not have to make early repayments to either the ESM or the EFSF. The ESM and EFSF hold 54% of Greek public debt. “We will continue to support the Greek authorities in their efforts to improve long-term growth and debt sustainability”, said Pierre Gramegna, Managing Director of the ESM and EFSF. (MB)