NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Bailed-out Cyprus says it has signed a deal improving the terms of a 2.5 billion euro ($3.32 billion) loan it received from Russia in 2011.

The Cyprus Finance Ministry said Thursday that the revised loan cuts the annual interest rate from 4.5 to 2.5 percent.

Repayment has now been expanded over eight installments between 2018 and 2021 instead of a lump sum due in 2016, easing the country's public debt burden and saving it 160 million euros ($212.64 million).

Cyprus in March agreed a bailout deal in March with its eurozone partners and the International Monetary Fund that forced huge losses on savings over 100,000 euros in the country's two largest banks in exchange for a 10 billion euro ($13.29 billion) loan.


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