LISBON, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese government on Friday wowed to prepay European creditors 2 billion euros of Troika debt by the end of this year, Portuguese Lusa News Agency reported.
Finance Minister Mario Centeno said that "a process of early repayment to European creditors" is already underway for the debt contracted by Portugal under the Economic and Financial Assistance Program between 2011 and 2014 with the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the European Central Bank, known as "troika."
The minister explained that the first advance payment of around 2 billion euros will take place between the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter, adding that the move will save over 100 million euros of additional interests for Portugal in the coming years.
He noted that the debt to the IMF with the total of 26.3 billion euros has been fully paid off, when the last payment of 4.7 billion euros took place last December.
The remaining debt of 52 billion euros to European creditors was split between the European Financial Stabilization Fund and the European Financial Stabilization Mechanism.
Portugal requested financial assistance in 2011 after falling into debt crisis and "troika" presented 78 billion-euro financial assistance program to the debt-ridden country. In 2014, the Portuguese adjustment program ended, signaling the departure of the "troika" from Portugal.
Also in the day, US financial rating agency Moody's raised the outlook for Portuguese public debt from "stable" to "positive", but kept the rating at "Baa3", a level above "garbage."
Commenting on the rating, the minister said that the improvement stems from the "observation of the evolution of the Portuguese economy, its labor market and the credibility of economic policies, and in particular the budget in Portugal."
