Greece on Tuesday was braced for more strikes this week as Prime Minister George Papandreou continued a four nation tour aimed at boosting the country's financial credibility amid a debt crisis, according to dpa. The 24-hour nationwide strike, the second in two weeks, will paralyse much of daily life across the country with ministries, public services, banks and schools closing down and hospitals will be operating on emergency staff. Greeces prime minister is currently on a four-nation tour aimed at boosting Greeces financial credibility and winning support for more favourable interest rates for loans. He is scheduled to meet with US President Barack Obama later Tuesday. He has said that the solution lies with support from European Union countries and has urged the United States to crack down on currency speculators amid reports that some U.S. funds have placed big bets against the euro. Papandreou has said that if Greece did not end up getting support from the EU it might have to appeal to the International Monetary Fund for help - an option which would be seen as an embarrassment for Greece's EU partners, highlighting the bloc's inability to manage the crisis on its own. Air, rail and public transport will be disrupted as air traffic controllers will shut down the country's airspace beginning midnight Wednesday. A strike by sailors will also tie up ships at ports across the country. Striking refuse workers announced they would extend their walkout until Thursday, causing piles of rubbish to remain uncollected in the streets of Athens and other cities. The nationwide walkout is part of the protests against economic austerity measures aimed at solving the country's debt crisis. The unions oppose a 4.8 billion euro austerity package that will hike consumer taxes and slash pay for public sector workers by up to 8 per cent. An opinion poll published Monday found that 65.3 per cent of Greeks believe the austerity measures to be "unfair."
