WALL STREET JOURNAL: Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said Thursday that talks with Greece’s international creditors have been successfully wrapped up after political parties backing his interim government gave their support to new austerity plans needed to win a second bailout package.
The deal came after parties resolved differences over pension cuts that led to a €300 million ($397.8 million) shortfall in the country’s budget target for this year…
The concessions by party leaders on cuts set them up for a difficult run-up to new elections, which are expected to be set in the next few months. After nearly two years of austerity policies, the deal would cut spending by more than €3 billion in 2012, further slash retiree pension benefits and reduce the minimum wage by 22%, according to a draft of the accord seen earlier this week… (more)
