15.02.2012
By Simon Miller
Greece has been put under further pressure to find greater cuts after eurozone leaders called off a meeting last night to agree further funding to the stricken country.
As Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos called in his cabinet last night to find a further €325m (£272m) of fiscal austerity demanded by the troika, eurozone ministers called off their meeting over concerns that the coutnry would not honour the deal.
Fears over Greece have been raised further by an apparant threat from Antonis Samaras, leader of the party expected to win April's election, to renegotiate the bailout if elected.
Leader of the eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker said that he welcomed the progress made on the austerity programme, in particular the agreement reached between the troika and the Greek government on the programme as well as the positive vote of the Greek Parliament last Sunday.
However, he said that futher technical work was needed Greece
and the troika, including the closure of the fiscal gap of €325m euro in 2012 and the debt sustainability analysis.
He added: "Furthermore, I did not yet receive the required political assurances from the leaders of the Greek coalition parties on the implementation of the programme. Against this background, I have decided to convene ministers to a conference call tomorrow in order to discuss the outstanding issues and prepare the ordinary meeting of the Eurogroup on
Monday, 20th February 2012."
Other stories you may find of interest:
Posen calls on Germany to restructure owed debt
Outgoing Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Adam Posen has warned that it would not be in Germany's interest to to supervise a eurozone break-up.
IMF could stop payments to Greece
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) could block the next payment in Greece’s bail-out according to the chairman of the eurozone finance ministers.
