ATHENS: The Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) said that Greece's annual inflation rate rose to 8.9 percent in March, breaking a 27-year high. According to ELSTAT, inflation was negative 1.6 percent in March 2021.
The increase is primarily due to the year-over-year increase in energy expenses.
Electricity costs increased by 79.3 percent, natural gas by 68.3 percent, and heating oil by 58.5 percent in comparison to a year before.
Meanwhile, Greece has paid off the final tranche of its bailout loans to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) two years early. According to Finance Minister Christos Staikouras, Greece will save 56 million euros ($61.4 million) in interest payments as a result of this.
Since 2019, a series of early IMF loan repayments have saved the country a total of 230 million euros in interest. Greece had to rely on IMF and eurozone loans to escape bankruptcy during a severe debt crisis from 2010 to 2018.
The central bank stated that Greece has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to turn the current crisis into an opportunity and that the major goals of economic policy in 2022 should be to maintain economic growth dynamism while continuing attempts to achieve investment grade.
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