Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras insisted Saturday that the latest package of deep spending cuts, which will once again affect wages and pensions, will be the last, but he also defended the measures as necessary to restoring his country's financial credibility, AP reported. The government has endorsed the austerity measures to keep receiving funds from the so-called "troika" of creditors - the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Adoption of the package is necessary for the release of a long-delayed Euro 31 billion ($39.39 billion) rescue loan installment, without which Greece will be forced to default on its loans and may have to quit using the euro. "We are now applying the spending cuts (to which) the country had committed itself to reduce its debt, cutting the deficit by Euro 11.5 billion ($14.7 billion)," Samaras said while opening the 77th International Trade Fair in this northern Greek city. "But I'm telling you these will be the last such cuts." The new austerity measures are to be implemented over two years - 2013-14. But with Greece now in the fifth year of a deep recession that has seen its economy shrink by about 20 percent and the jobless rate soar to 24.4 percent in June, people are wary of any new cuts. A variety of groups staged protest marches against Samaras on Saturday.
