Greece MPs approve new austerity budget amid protests

[Loki]

Greece MPs approve new austerity budget amid protests

Greek lawmakers have approved the 2013 budget involving fresh spending cuts, despite mass public street protests.

The budget was passed by 167 votes to 128. The move was a pre-condition for Athens to be granted a 31.5bn euro (£25bn; $40bn) EU/IMF loan necessary to stave off bankruptcy.

Another austerity package of tax rises and pension cuts was passed last week.

Ahead of the vote, more than 10,000 protesters rallied outside the parliament in the capital, Athens.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras earlier warned that without the new loan, Greece would start running out of money on Friday.

Eurozone finance ministers are due to meet just hours after the vote in Athens, and Mr Samaras is now expected to travel to Brussels for a series of meetings.

The problem that he faces is that it could take some weeks before the EU backs the new instalment, BBC Athens correspondent Mark Lowen reports. The measure will have to be approved first by some parliaments, including Germany's.

Political symbol

The Greek economy is expected to shrink next year by 4.5% and public debt is likely to rise to 189% of GDP, almost double Greece's national output. This year, public debt stood at 175%.

The head of Syriza, a left-wing opposition party, said the latest budget cuts would leave Greeks unable to afford essential goods this winter.

"This is why we say you are dangerous for this country," Alexis Tspiras said, telling the government: "You are incapable of negotiating."

As MPs inside parliament debated the budget late on Sunday, marchers outside brought the centre of the capital to a standstill.

Members of the Communist-affiliated Pame union, the private sector GSEE union and the public sector Adedy union had urged parliament to reject the budget.

But there was none of the violence seen last Wednesday when protesters attacked riot police with petrol bomb and the police responded by firing tear gas.

Evangelos Venizelos, whose socialist Pasok party is part of the governing coalition, warned European partners that any delay in pushing through the loan worked against Greece and the eurozone as a whole.

"The country is at its limits," he said.

But German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said nobody opposed the next slice of loan funding, but the Greek government should have met the conditions for it months ago.

"We are not responsible for the urgency. All those concerned have known the deadlines for a long time," Mr Schaeuble said in an interview with Die Welt newspaper.

The next tranche of bailout loans for Greece has been delayed for months, becoming as much a political symbol as a financial one, the BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels reports.

Eurozone governments have not decided how they will pay for it, our correspondent says. So there are still plenty of questions surrounding Greece and the whole strategy of austerity-based reform.

[Loki]

MORE austerity ... are they friggin NUTS???