Greece: new bail-out package 'agreed'

The new three-year plan will supersede Greece's existing 110bn euro ($159bn, £97bn) EU and International Monetary Fund bail-out, Reuters said.

Greece would target another 6.4bn euros in austerity measures and finally start its 50bn euro privatisation programme.

In return the country would be offered some form of reduction in its debts.

Yoghurt

The broad terms of the package were agreed at a meeting of eurozone deputy finance ministers in Vienna that went on until after midnight on Thursday night.

Although the size of the new package was not revealed, the Reuters source said it would cover Greece's borrowing needs for this year and next.

Details of the new plan still need to be finalised, so that it can be signed off by the "Eurogroup" of eurozone finance ministers when they meet on 20 June.

The blessing of the IMF and the European Central Bank is also likely to be needed.

The Greek prime minister, George Papandreou, will present the government's privatisation plans and its new austerity measures to the Eurogroup chairman, Jean-Claude Juncker, in Luxembourg on Friday.

The additional spending cuts and tax rises would come at time when the government already faces daily demonstrations by thousands of protesters against its existing plans.

On Friday, protesters from the pro-Communist PAME union blocked access to the finance ministry in Athens, and hung a banner from it calling for a general strike.

The previous night, about 20 protesters hurled stones and yoghurt at government spokesman George Petalotis as he was stepping up to the podium at an event for the ruling PASOK party; Kazinform cites BBC News.

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