Greece must take additional austerity steps-finmin

by fm

21st September 2011

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1 min read

Greece must take more austerity measures, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said on Wednesday ahead of a cabinet meeting expected to announce public sector layoffs and tax rises to secure an EU/IMF aid tranche Athens needs to avoid bankruptcy.

"Do we need to take additional measures? Yes, we need to take additional measures," Venizelos told lawmakers, adding that the country needed the help of its international lenders, who have imposed a string of unpopular tax rises, pension cuts and economic reforms since they rescued the country in May 2010.

"If it wasn't for the (EU/IMF/ECB) troika's control… unfortunately we would have derailed fiscally," he said.