Prime Minister Antonis Samaras appealed to his ministers on Monday to take «drastic measures» to curb waste and slash red tape in their jurisdictions, stressing that the quality of services provided to citizens must be improved.

In a letter addressed to members of Cabinet, the head of the three-party coalition that forms the new government, said «one of the most fundamental changes our government must make is in the state and public administration.»

«Our main goal is to create an effective and functional administration, that is free of chronic problems, that can contribute to growth and stand beside the citizen,» Samaras said.

«In the next few days, the Ministry of Administrative Reform and Electronic Governance, in cooperation with the EU's Task Force for Greece... will begin an evaluation of the structures of all ministries and the bodies under their jurisdiction, with the aim of reforming them,» the prime minister wrote, referring to a team of advisers from the European Union. «This will allow us to identify and eradicate weaknesses and dysfunctions in the public administration. The result of the evaluation will be a overhaul of services through the merger or closure of inactive units and services, with the aim of rationalizing the operation of ministries and curbing unnecessary expenses.»

Samaras's appeal comes as Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras was due on Monday to begin a string of meetings with fellow cabinet members in a bid to finalize proposals for 11.6 billion euros in savings for the next two years that the country’s international creditors want to see before they will consider making any concessions on Greece's bailout deal.