The first two foreign loans were contracted during the Revolution and therefore before the recognition of Greece as an independent state by the international community. This fact - in other words the disadvantageous position Greece was in during negotiations - made the terms of repayment especially onerous. After the recognition of the Greek state and in the context of the arrangements that followed the selection of Otto to the throne of Greece, the Great Powers guaranteed a second loan of 60,000,000 francs to be advanced in three instalments of 20 million each. However, the guarantee eventually only covered the first instalment. This arrangement in conjunction with the repayment terms of the two previous loans tied up the lion's share of public revenues to their servicing. Simultaneously, they offered the guaranteeing Powers the right to intervene in the country's domestic affairs in order to defend the interests of their subjects, the creditors. Thus, there was privileged scope for intervention on the part of the Powers in the financial and by extension the political field, which is what happened on the eve of the 1843 revolution and a few years later during the events that came to be known as Parkerika (1850).

Since the Greek state was essentially unable to respond to its financial obligations abroad it was in no position to raise foreign loans either. Thus, in order to cover its fiscal needs, it had to turn to internal borrowing. This situation changed in 1878-79 when a settlement was reached with foreign creditors that finally allowed Greece to contract foreign loans once more. Thenceforth, the economic policy was based on continuous lending. It was the time of the great recession in the West, when interest rates were very low and the relatively high interest rates offered by Greece in an effort to attract capital allowed ample scope for speculation. The policy followed by Trikoupis concerning the construction of large works (roads, railways, the opening of the Corinth Canal etc.) was based on foreign loans. For the most part, however, loans covered fixed expenses in the public sector. In particular, these sums were used to cover defence expenses (which soared due to the crisis of the Eastern Question and, in particular, Greece's position on the question of Eastern Rumelia) and naturally the repayment of previous loans. Excessive borrowing, the onerous terms of the loans and the way in which they were used, led to the bankruptcy of 1893.