The Greek parliament passed a mass of legislation on Thursday, which the debt-laden country had to adopt before EU and IMF inspectors came to monitor its progress later this month. Instead of taking their usual long summer recess, Greek lawmakers are working full-time in August to pass bundles of legislation required by one bailout programme that provided Greece with 110 billion euros last year and a second, agreed in July, giving it a further 109 billion euros in stages, according to Reuters. To qualify for the rescue payments, Greece has to carry out structural reforms and meet fiscal targets, and international lenders are keeping it under quarterly surveillance. Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said the law had to be passed before an EU/IMF team arrived for the next audit on Aug. 22. "We must do our work and be a model of execution," Venizelos told lawmakers. -- SPA
