Greece to merge or close 75 subsidised state bodies

Greece plans to merge or close a number of state entities, aiming at savings of 2.7 bln euros a year, under a plan to tackle the budget deficit, Deputy Prime Minister Theodoros Pangalos said on Wednesday.
"As part of the mid-term (fiscal) programme, the action plan to merge and abolish state entities will concern 75 bodies," he told a news conference, adding that the savings impact would be felt in the 2012 budget.
Pangalos was speaking after he had chaired a ministerial meeting on moves to shrink the public sector as Athens scrambles to cut its wage bill further.