The new debt metric that focuses on gross financing needs (GFNS) – rather than the old one of nominal debt-to-GDP ratio – captures adequately the concessional terms of loans to Greece by the EFSF and the ESM (more than € billion with maturities up to 32.5 years and a fixed rate close to 2% directly or indirectly taking as a basis a near-zero borrowing rate from the markets by the ESM).
Reducing public debt in present value terms puts the profile of Greek debt in an advantageous position among two thirds of eurozone countries and four fifths of EU countries.