Greece reaches austerity accord

Greece has reached agreement with its international creditors on new austerity measures necessary to release fresh bailout funds.

Parliament was due to vote on the package, plus a budget, on Tuesday, but this has been delayed a week.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said: "If this deal is approved and the budget is voted, Greece will stay in the euro and exit the crisis."

If passed, Greece will impose 13.5bn euros ($17.4bn; £10.8bn) of cuts.

Details of the budget cuts remain sketchy, but Mr Samaras is seeking broader powers to privatise public services.

However, there has been dissent among members of the three-party coalition government, and the delay in voting on the package will give Mr Samaras more time to reach a consensus.

He has warned that Greece will run out of cash next month unless it receives 31.2bn euros in loans from the EU-IMF bailout fund.

The prime minister said in a statement on Tuesday that he had "exhausted all the available time" to try and reach a consensus in parliament.

"The problem is not whether we (introduce) this measure or that measure," he said. "On the contrary, it is what we would do if no agreement is reached and the country is led into chaos."

But a coalition party, the Democratic Left, has refused to back the austerity cuts. The party said in a statement on Tuesday: "The Democratic Left has fought on the issue of labour relations, to protect workers' rights which have been already weakened.

"It does not agree with the result of the negotiations. The Democratic Left sticks to its position."

Source: BBC News