High 14 oC - Low 7 oC

Greece to ask EU payback for ‘sacrifices’: report

ANTONIS SAMARAS

ATHENS - Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras will ask EU peers Thursday to "respond to sacrifices" by recession-hit Greeks seeking to amend the terms of a second EU-IMF bailout, a report said.
The top-selling daily Ta Nea said that Samaras, who is recovering from eye surgery and will miss an EU summit in Brussels, made the call in a letter to be delivered by President Carolos Papoulias, who will represent Greece.
The full contents of the letter have not been made public.
But according to government sources, the newly-elected conservative premier argues that Greece's latest rescue package, which provides Athens with an additional 130 billion euros ($163 billion) must be revised to take into account a greater-than-expected recession, Ta Nea said.
Samaras heads a three-party coalition put in place after June 17 elections with the aim of renegotiating Greece's bailout by placing more emphasis on growth to overcome a five-year recession.
The government has said it also wants to freeze some reforms, such as minimum wage cuts and more flexible layoff rules, which it sees as exacerbating poverty and a jobless rate already at more than 20 percent.
At the summit, which begins at 1300 GMT, EU leaders will examine a compact for growth and jobs aimed at countering record unemployment and an economic downturn.
The heads of state and government will also discuss plans to create a banking union and increasingly centralise control over budgets.
But the summit is only expected to agree on a roadmap to be finalised at another summit at the end of the year.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Follow Us

To stay updated with latest news please follow us on


"dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami"
Arif Nizami (Editor)
4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore
Ph: +92 42 36375963-5 Fax: 042-36298302
Ph: +92 51 2287273 Islamabad, Ph: +92 21 35381208-9 Karachi
Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk
ADVERTISE  |  CAREERS  |  PRIVACY POLICY  |  CONTACT US

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,
redistributed or derived from. Unless otherwise stated,
all content is copyrighted © 2011 Nawa Media.
Technical feedback? webmaster@pakistantoday.com.pk