More than 20,000 Greeks protested against austerity measures in Athens on Sunday and workers at state-owned utility PPC announced strikes to oppose government plans to sell the company.
In the 19th straight day of demonstrations against a new austerity campaign the Socialist government hopes to pass this month, protesters gathered in front of parliament in Athens' central Syntagma square, shouting "Thieves! Thieves! Thieves!"
Having failed to meet fiscal targets under Greece's 110 billion euro ($160 billion) bailout by the European Union and International Monetary Fund, the government wants to raise taxes and slash spending more than planned this year in a bid to avoid default.
It has slated more measures through 2015 to cut the fiscal deficit to 1.1 percent in 2015 from 10.5 percent of gross domestic product last year, including a plan to sell state assets worth 50 billion euros.
A central part of the sell-offs is state energy producer PPC. But labor unions, opposition parties and some backbenchers of Prime Minister George Papandreou's ruling PASOK party oppose selling some Greek state-owned firms.
REUTERS
