Greece on Friday sought permission from the eurozone to repay loans to the IMF before their maturity date, a move Athens hopes will rebuild international trust in its economy.

Greece's new center-right finance minister Christos Staikouras made his request at his first meeting with his eurozone counterparts since taking office in July. &nbsp;

"I welcome such an early repayment for a very simple reason: because it increases the debt sustainability of Greece," said Klaus Regling, the head of the European Stability Mechanism, the eurozone's bailout fund.

Regling said once officially launched, the approval process would take about two months.

Regling's ESM, which is governed by the eurozone 19 finance ministers, holds most of the public debt owed by Greece after a decade of EU and IMF bailouts.

Greece's overspending triggered a major eurozone crisis a decade ago and nearly led to the demise of the single currency bloc.

Since then, Athens has carried out painful reforms in exchange for three bailouts worth 289 billion euros ($330 billion) from the European Union, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.

The country exited its third and final international bailout in August 2018.

Nevertheless, its debt load remains high with public debt standing at 335 billion euros ($372 billion) or 180 percent of GDP last year.

According to Bloomberg, the government hopes to pay off 2.9 billion euros of the remaining 8.8 billion Greece owes the Washington-based IMF.

Some of the loans demand rates of over 5 percent pushing the market-friendly government to seek cheaper terms.

Greece on Friday sought permission from the eurozone to repay loans to the IMF before their maturity date, a move Athens hopes will rebuild international trust in its economy.

Greece on Friday sought permission from the eurozone to repay loans to the IMF before their maturity date, a move Athens hopes will rebuild international trust in its economy. Greece's new center-right finance minister Christos Staikouras made his request at his first meeting with his eurozone counterparts since taking office in July. "I welcome such an early repayment for a very simple reason: because it increases the debt sustainability of Greece," said Klaus Regling, the head of the European Stability Mechanism, the eurozone's bailout fund. Regling said once officially launched, the approval process would take about two months. Regling's ESM, which is governed by the eurozone 19 finance ministers, holds most of the public debt owed by Greece after a decade of EU and IMF bailouts. Greece's overspending triggered a major eurozone crisis a decade ago and nearly led to the demise of the single currency bloc. Since then, Athens has carried out painful reforms in exchange for three bailouts worth 289 billion euros ($330 billion) from the European Union, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. The country exited its third and final international bailout in August 2018. Nevertheless, its debt load remains high with public debt standing at 335 billion euros ($372 billion) or 180 percent of GDP last year. According to Bloomberg, the government hopes to pay off 2.9 billion euros of the remaining 8.8 billion Greece owes the Washington-based IMF. Some of the loans demand rates of over 5 percent pushing the market-friendly government to seek cheaper terms.

Greece seeks early IMF debt repayment to build trust

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Thursday that India would become the world&#39;s fastest-growing economy in two years.&nbsp;

Jaitley, who was speaking in the Lok Sabha, was quoting from IMF data.&nbsp;

Jaitley also answered the question of why his goods and services tax has five slabs, one of the harshest criticisms of the GST:&nbsp;

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I went to Singapore. There they levy 7% GST on both Mercedes and food. Can this be done in India, a country where a large population lives below the poverty line? How can same tax slab be implemented on a luxurious item &amp; a necessity?: FM Arun Jaitley in Lok Sabha <a href="https://t.co/UBBSFNPzZO">pic.twitter.com/UBBSFNPzZO</a>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/961575641899511810?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Jaitley added that &quot;within a matter of months, we have been able to stabilise GST. We reduced rate with increase in revenue.&quot;&nbsp;

Jaitley that &quot;structural reform may pose momentary difficulty initially but in the long run it will prove to be beneficial.&quot;&nbsp;

This is something the government has been saying for a while -- that the &quot;disruptions&quot; of GST and demonetisation will bear fruit in the long run. &nbsp;

Jaitley, who was speaking in the Lok Sabha, was quoting from IMF data

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Thursday that India would become the world's fastest-growing economy in two years. Jaitley, who was speaking in the Lok Sabha, was quoting from IMF data. Jaitley also answered the question of why his goods and services tax has five slabs, one of the harshest criticisms of the GST: I went to Singapore. There they levy 7% GST on both Mercedes and food. Can this be done in India, a country where a large population lives below the poverty line? How can same tax slab be implemented on a luxurious item & a necessity?: FM Arun Jaitley in Lok Sabha pic.twitter.com/UBBSFNPzZO — ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2018 × Jaitley added that "within a matter of months, we have been able to stabilise GST. We reduced rate with increase in revenue." Jaitley that "structural reform may pose momentary difficulty initially but in the long run it will prove to be beneficial." This is something the government has been saying for a while -- that the "disruptions" of GST and demonetisation will bear fruit in the long run.

India to become fastest-growing major economy in two years: Jaitley

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Greece seeks early IMF debt repayment to build trust

India to become fastest-growing major economy in two years: Jaitley