Greece: Papandreou picks Venizelos as finance minister

14:13, 17 June 2011

LONDON. June 17. KAZINFORM Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has replaced his finance minister in a bid to push through unpopular austerity measures demanded by the EU.

Evangelos Venizelos has been promoted to the finance ministry and tasked with tackling a crippling debt crisis.

The former defence minister replaces George Papaconstantinou, who has been moved to the environment ministry.

The proposed reforms have sparked riots on the streets of Athens, nationwide strikes and rattled global markets.

The French and German leaders are due to meet shortly in Berlin to discuss how to prevent Greece defaulting.

Athens is seeking approval for a package of 28bn euros (£24.6bn; $40.5bn) of cuts, due to take effect from 2012 to 2015.

The policies are required for the release of the next tranche of aid - 12bn euros - from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

Financial lifeline

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are set to discuss how to ensure the country can avoid default on its sovereign debt - which amounts to some 340bn billion euros.

French and German banks have the most exposure to Greek debt, holding, between them, 55% of Europe's total exposure.

For full version see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13805964

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