Austerity inspectors press Greek PM to implement cost-cutting reforms

PanARMENIAN.Net - International austerity inspectors pressed Greece's Prime Minister on Friday, July 27 to implement new harsh cost-cutting reforms as the country faces the alternative of losing the rescue loans that are keeping the country afloat, the Associated Press reported.

Antonis Samaras, whose conservative-led coalition came to power just over a month ago, is under intense pressure to stick to his predecessors' austerity commitments - and find new areas to make cuts.

European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank officials - known as the troika - started a new scrutiny of Greece's austerity program this week. If their report, expected in September, is damning, Athens could stop receiving its vital rescue loans and face a disorderly bankruptcy and exit from the euro.

The debt-crippled country has been surviving on international bailouts since May 2010. To secure them, it imposed deeply resented spending cuts, slashing incomes and salaries while hiking taxes.

Government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said the inspectors, who represent Greece's bailout creditors, briefed Samaras on "the initiatives that must be taken to ensure that the national program is brought back on track."

The hour-long meeting in Athens came a day after EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso exhorted Samaras to "deliver, deliver, deliver" on past Greek promises.