LISBON: Portugal is showing off its relative financial health and signaling it is different from Greece by paying backs another batch of international loans ahead of their due date.
Greece’s difficulties in reaching a deal with creditors who bailed it out during Europe’s recent debt crisis has spooked investors and fueled a steep rise in the country’s borrowing costs. Some analysts reckon Portugal, which also needed a bailout, could become vulnerable to market uncertainty if Greece’s problems deepen.
But Portugal’s finance ministry said Monday it intends to pay back this month almost 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) it owes to the International Monetary Fund. In March, it repaid 6.6 billion euro to the IMF ahead of time thanks to record-low yields on government bonds and a recovering economy.
