Greek parliament passes austerity budget

Greece's parliament has adopted a 2013 budget that includes salary and pension cuts which the government has pledged would guarantee the release of foreign aid needed to stave off insolvency.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Greece's parliament has adopted a 2013 budget that includes salary and pension cuts which the government has pledged would guarantee the release of foreign aid needed to stave off insolvency.According to an AFP news agency count, 167 of parliament's 300 members voted on Sunday in favour of the budget, paving the way for Greece's international creditors to unlock a 31.5bn euro ($40bn) tranche of bailout funds.Without the money, Antonis Samaras, prime minister, has said Greece will run out of euros on Friday.At the same time Samaras pledged that the spending cuts will be the last Greeks have to endure. "The sacrifices (in the earlier bill and the budget) will be the last. Provided, of course, we implement all we have legislated," Samaras said. "Greece has done what it was asked to do and now is the time for the creditors to make good on their commitments,'' he stressed.Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras stressed the urgency of passing the measure, with the treasury bills due on Friday."Without the help of the European Central Bank, the refunding of these treasury bills from the banking system will lead the private sector to complete suffocation,'' Stournaras said.Earlier, thousands of protesters converged on Athens' main square outside parliament while the debate was under way.