Greece to ask for lock over debt service cost

Greece will ask its international lenders this week to lock annual debt-servicing costs on its official loans at a fixed interest rate to make its debt mountain more manageable.

At the spring meetings of the IMF in Washington starting tomorrow, Athens will also suggest a proposed 15% of GDP annual cap on debt servicing costs is divided, with 8% for bond and loan repayments and interest, the biggest cost, and 7% for paying down outstanding treasury bills.

It is seeking to fix its presently fluctuating rate on its EU bailout loans to have a buffer against possible higher rates if the ECB starts raising them again, sources said.