Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos is expected to meet with party leaders of his volatile coalition on Friday in a bid to win their backing for additional austerity measures needed to obtain a second international bailout worth 130 billion euros (170 billion dollars, according to dpa. Athens has yet to reach a key agreement with members of the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank, known as the troika, on a range of issues, including cuts to private sector wages and auxiliary pensions as well as the recapitalisation of banks. Pressure is increasing on party leaders to agree on the new measures and finalise the deal before a scheduled meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Monday. According to a report in the Greek daily Kathimerini newspaper, there are significant concerns that leading officials from the Socialist PASOK party, the conservative New Democracy party and the right-wing Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS) will not agree to all of the troika's demands, paving the way for a new round of negotiations with foreign lenders and putting crucial rescue funding in jeopardy. Officials have said that discussions on the details of the bailout must be concluded before a debt swap deal with private bondholders can be announced. Meanwhile, according to Greek finance ministry sources, the government is looking to plug a 4.2-billion-euro budget shortfall through defence spending cuts, merging state-backed entities and reducing health spending.
