Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos addresses reporters after an unscheduledcabinet meeting in Athens Sept 18, 2011. Greece must take tough decisions to avoiddefault and stay in the euro zone, Venizelos said on Sunday after the cabinetmeeting.
ATHENS - The Greek government will finalize a fresh package of deficitcutting measures after talks with EU/IMF lenders scheduled for Monday,Greek Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos saidSunday evening.
"If we wish to save Greece from a default and put an endto speculation, we must reach three crucial strategicdecisions - fully meeting fiscal targets, achievingprimary surpluses and proceeding immediately to allstructural reforms," stressed Venizelos in a statementfollowing a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister George Papandreou.
Sunday's cabinet meeting resulted in a clear framework for the teleconference Venizelos willhold with EU/IMF officials on Monday, as he stated.
Greece is ready to fulfill its commitments to slash deficits and reduce state expenses throughreforms that will be accelerated, he said, noting that it is up to the rest of the EU membercountries as well to take the necessary steps for the implementation of the July 21 agreement onthe further support of the debt-ridden country and the common currency.
"The climate of uncertainty and nervousness in the global economy at the moment allowsspeculators to continue attacks against the euro," he repeated.
Venizelos blamed the Greek main opposition conservative party leader and a part of local mediaand commentators of "irresponsible analyses and suggestions that are undermining efforts tocounter the crisis."
According to Greek media, Papandreou cancelled his scheduled trip to the United States thisweekend to promote a new package of austerity measures in the coming days that will secureAthens the sixth tranche of a vital EU/IMF bailout aid this autumn.
Greece is under mounting pressure this autumn to speed up structural reforms, including thedramatic overhaul of the public sector, as the country seems to have fallen behind on fiscaltargets set since May 2010, when it secured the EU/IMF aid to escape bankruptcy, despite awave of austerity and reform policies introduced over the past 18 months.
An announcement earlier this month on a new property tax to raise revenues did not satisfyforeign lenders, according to media reports. At a eurozone meeting in Poland last Friday,Finance Ministers decided to postpone to this October a decision regarding the release of thenext tranche to Athens.
According to Greek officials, without the disbursement of new foreign aid, Greece could run outof cash by mid-October.
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