Greece-EU/IMF talks have not concluded

The Greek government approved late on Sunday a draft budget for 2012 showing that the country will miss, by far, its 2011 deficit target. It also announced new extra austerity measures to accelerate its effort to cut the deficit next year.

The missed target forecast came while inspectors from the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank, known as the troika, were in Athens to decide whether to approve a loan tranche Greece needs to avoid running out of cash as soon as this month.

Greece's deputy economy minister Pantelis Oikonomou said on Monday that talks with the troika had essentially concluded. But sources with direct knowledge of the talks dismissed the statement, saying they were far from over.

"The talks are not over," one official with direct knowledge of the talks told Reuters. The inspection team was still examining Greece's budget numbers and other reforms required for the disbursement of the aid.

Oikonomou had earlier said that Greece had convinced its lenders the fiscal slippage was due to a deeper than expected recession and that the troika would start drafting its report on Wednesday, after two more visits at the country's General Accounting Office to cross-check some numbers.

"I believe we have essentially concluded," Oikonomou told television station Mega. "To the extend that they (the troika) are convinced that the recession is really deeper, I believe we have figured things out," Oikonomou said.