Greek leaders fail to agree on austerity cuts

PanARMENIAN.Net - Greek leaders Thursday, Feb 9, fell short of striking a deal on austerity cuts, even as their finance minister headed to Brussels for crucial eurozone talks on a new bailout to avert a debt default.

According to AFP, before leaving Athens, Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said he remained hopeful of winning the bailout loan from eurozone finance ministers.

"I leave for Brussels with hope that the Eurogroup will take a positive decision concerning the new aid plan," Venizelos said.

The three coalition partners in Prime Minister Lucas Papademos'government held nearly eight hours of talks overnight on a rescue plan for the debt-strapped Greek economy, said Papademos' office.

They had agreed on all "points of the plan except one", according to Papademos's office. The sticking point was "the reduction of pensions," a government source told AFP after the marathon talks, which began Monday and broke up in the early hours of Thursday.

Government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis said they still needed to cut 600 million euros, 325 million of which would be obtained by pensions cuts.

"For the rest (275 million euros) our creditors have given us a 15-day delay to find a solution," he added.

Greece's politicians must reach a deal before their country can receive vital bailout funding from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

The bailout is vital to prevent Greece, a eurozone member, from defaulting on 14.5 billion euros ($19.2 billion) of payments to bond holders due on March 20.