Greek lawmakers say they have reached an accord on austerity measures demanded by international lenders so the country can secure another bailout and avoid defaulting next month on its financial obligations.
After an all-night negotiating session that ended early Thursday, Greek political leaders remained deadlocked on the extent of pension cuts for retirees, while agreeing to trim the country’s minimum wage by 22 percent and eliminate 15,000 government jobs.
Hours later, however, Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and his coalition partners announced they had found an unspecified, alternative way to pare government spending, marking a key turning point after weeks of negotiations with Greece’s creditors.
Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos headed to a Brussels meeting with other European finance ministers to plead the debt-ridden country’s case to win their approval for a new $172 billion bailout, the country’s second in two years. Greece says it needs the aid package from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund in order to avoid defaulting on $19 billion in bond payments due in March.
In addition, the Athens government is completing negotiations with large private lenders to cut in half the amount it owes them, a $132 billion reduction. Under the revised financing of the country’s debt, 32 large financial institutions would lose 70 percent of their Greek investment.
European leaders have grown impatient with Greece’s protracted negotiations over its debt. Meanwhile, Greek leaders have faced widespread opposition at home from workers angered by earlier austerity measures, with unions calling for more work stoppages on Friday and Saturday to protest the latest budget-cutting plan.
Meanwhile, the continent’s central bank kept its benchmark lending rate at the record low rate of 1 percent, in an effort to spur economic growth. The bank has kept the rate low as the 17-nation bloc that uses the euro currency faces a stalled economy and is possibly headed to a recession.
