Greece launched renewed bailout talks with its creditors on Monday in a bid to stave off insolvency, following the weekend publication of comments said to be by a top International Monetary Fund (IMF) official criticizing Europe's failure to agree to cutting Athens' debt level, according to dpa. Financial experts from the European Commission, the IMF and the European Central Bank (ECB) met with Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos with the task of negotiating deeper cuts in social spending, including Greece's public pensions programme. Local media reported that the additional austerity measures required to unlock further loans could cost the government 5 billion euros (5.7 million dollars).
