The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) today confirmed that it will extend the maturities of its loans to Ireland and Portugal in the context of their assistance programmes. The average weighted maturity for all loans by the EFSF to Ireland and Portugal will now be extended by up to seven years. This will significantly reduce the amount of money that Ireland will need to borrow over the next decade or so.

"The extension will smoothen the debt redemption profile of Ireland and Portugal and lower their refinancing needs in the post-programme period," Klaus Regling, chief executive of the EFSF said in a statement today. "It will enhance the confidence of market participants and thus protect Ireland and Portugal from refinancing risks."

The EFSF has committed €17.7 billion for Ireland out of a total programme volume of €85 billion. For Portugal, the EFSF has committed €26 billion, which represents one third of the €78 billion programme volume. The EFSF is made up of loans and guarantees from euro zone member states.

The EFSF members had already given political support to the improvement of the loan conditions at the informal Eurogroup meeting of April 12th, where these measures were decided in the context of the Cyprus programme. The European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM), which has committed €22.5 billion for Ireland and €26 billion for Portugal, was also given a green light by the EU finance ministers on June 21st, 2013 to extend loan maturities by seven years.