Cemex SAB, the largest cement maker in the Americas, has paid off more than half of a $15 billion bank loan, allowing the company to avoid an increase in interest rates that was set to take effect at year-end. Cemex made a payment of $131 last month, bringing the total amount paid back to $7.66 billion, said Jorge Perez, a spokesman for the Monterrey, Mexico-based company. Cemex restructured the bank debt in 2009 to avoid defaulting amid the global financial crisis.