In a statement, the EFSF indicated that the Portuguese Finance Minister, Mário Centeno, requested on 28 June the advance payment of €2 billion, something that needed the formal approval of the institution's Board of Directors, which happened today, thus making Portugal the second country to receive loans from European creditors to make an early repayment, after Spain.

The repayment of the €2 billion corresponds to the full settlement of a tranche of the EFSF loan maturing in August 2025, as well as the partial early payment of a tranche maturing by December 2025.

"Portugal's request for an early repayment of the loan confirms the country's strong market access and comfortable liquidity position. I fully support this early repayment, as it improves the sustainability of Portugal's debt," commented Klaus Regling, executive director of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), also chairman of the EFSF Board of Directors.

Under the financial assistance programme (2011-2014), Portugal benefited from external assistance of €78 billion, provided in equal parts (one third each, i.e. €26 billion) by the EFSF, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In December 2018, Portugal completed the early repayment of IMF loans and then committed to the EFSF to pay this creditor up to €2 billion in advance between 2020 and 2023.