ATHENS, Greece: The international organizations supervising Greece's efforts to overhaul its debt-ridden economy have voiced support for the Greek government and its people, after Athens slammed the organizations for what it called interference in its domestic affairs. The International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission statement, issued just before midnight Saturday, appeared designed to dampen Greek tempers that frayed following a visit by the three to review the progress toward economic reform. The three said they “recognize the difficult challenges facing the Greek economy and we have the deepest respect for the tremendous efforts being made by the Greek people.” The Greek government a day earlier reacted harshly to a news conference in which the three institutions – known collectively by Greeks as the troika – said Greece must privatize ¤50 billion ($68 billion) in state assets and speed up structural reforms in the next few months to keep the country's troubled finances afloat. The IMF and European Union countries that use the euro rescued Greece from bankruptcy with a ¤110 billion bailout loan package last May that kept it from defaulting on its mountainous debts, but at a price that many Greeks consider too harsh. The three institutions, which are supervising the bailout deal, “have full respect for the prerogatives and initiatives of the government in all areas of economic decision-making,” they said. “It is regrettable if a different impression was perceived at any time.” The reforms, which include cutting public sector salaries and pensions, increasing taxes and opening up highly regulated professions to broader competition, have been highly unpopular, with labor unions organizing frequent demonstrations and strikes. The first public indication of the potentially damaging spat between Greece and the troika appeared in an unusually harshly worded pre-dawn statement by government spokesman Giorgos Petalotis.
