(Reuters) - Greece's
parliament approved next year's budget in the early hours of Monday, setting
aside a dispute with EU/IMF lenders who say Athens must accept more austerity
to meet budget targets.
It came against the
backdrop of a volatile political climate in Greece, as Prime Minister Antonis
Samaras struggles to push through an early exit from an unpopular EU/IMF aid
program and ensure the survival of his government after a presidential vote
next year.
"National
elections will be catastrophic for Greece," Samaras told parliament before
the budget was voted. Samaras at present does not have the needed opposition
support to elect his candidate for president. New elections must be called if
parliament fails to elect a president.
"Your mind today
is not here - it's at the presidential election," opposition leader Alexis
Tsipras told Samaras in parliament. "Your big problem is that your time is
running out." The 2015 budget plan is the closest to a balanced budget
Greece has produced in more than three decades and promises cuts to crisis-era
taxes as well as higher economic growth next year.
But the row with the
EU and IMF over a disputed budget shortfall next year has held up the country's
final bailout inspection and plans to exit the aid program. Greece's lenders
are demanding 1.7 billion euros in additional measures to hit budget targets
next year, but Athens has rejected the demands, Samaras told parliament.
The finance minister
said after the vote that a possible extension of the bailout will be decided
later on Monday.
Earlier about 4,000
Greeks took to the streets to protest austerity measures the government has
imposed at the behest of EU/IMF lenders.
(Πηγή: reuters.com)
