Greece's prime minister was meeting with the country's president Wednesday to brief him on the latest developments in the financial crisis, a day after failing to win consensus from opposition parties for new austerity measures.
George Papandreou's meeting with President Karolos Papoulias came as international debt inspectors returned to Athens to continue a crucial review of Greece's progress in meeting the terms of its €110 billion bailout package from other European Union countries and the International Monetary Fund. They will determine whether the country receives the next €12 billion installment of rescue loans in June.
Top EU officials have argued that Greece, which is struggling to meet the terms of the bailout extended last year and could need more help, needs opposition parties to back the debt-cutting plans to ensure they can be implemented smoothly.
Papandreou met with the heads of the political parties on Tuesday, seeking support for a midterm package of measures which will run to 2015 - two years beyond his government's mandate. The new plan includes more than €6 billion in savings for this year, tax increases and pledges an immediate start to previously announced privatizations. It aims to narrow the country's budget deficit from 10.5 percent of gross domestic product last year to 7.5 percent by the end of 2011.
But he failed to win consensus. Antonis Samaras, the head of the main opposition conservative party, said that while he agreed with several elements, including the privatizations, the overall direction of the plan, and the hike in taxes in particular, was wrong.
"To this demonstrably mistaken recipe, I will not agree," Samaras said.
Papandreou later expressed optimism that some form of consensus can be achieved. The head of Greece's industry federation, Sev, meanwhile, said he saw little prospect of the parties settling their differences, and urged for a referendum on the austerity measures.
AP
