BRUESSELS: Greece is officially in default but the declaration will have no immediate consequences, the eurozone’s stability fund said in a statement on Friday.

The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) declared ‘an event of default by Greece’, but added that it had ‘decided not to request immediate repayment of its loans nor to waive its right to action’.

The EFSF, which helps support eurozone countries in difficulty, handles the debt owed by Greece to eurozone governments and holds outstanding Greek loans of 144.6 billion euros ($160 billion).

EFSF boss Klaus Regling said the body was ‘Greece’s biggest creditor’.

“This event of default is cause for deep concern,” he added, ahead of Sunday’s referendum on Greece’s bailout package.

“It breaks the commitment made by Greece to honour its financial obligations to all its creditors, and it opens the door to severe consequences for the Greek economy and the Greek people. The EFSF will closely coordinate with the euro area member states, European Commission, and IMF on its future actions.”