Meeting between PM, party leaders put off to Tuesday
As talks between government officials and representatives of Greece?s foreign creditors continue, officials in the office of Prime Minister Lucas Papademos confirmed that scheduled talks on Monday between the premier and the leaders of the three parties in his shaky coalition had been put off to Tuesday.
No official statement was released on the reason for the postponement but it was clear that negotiations between government officials and representatives of the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund were stuck on certain thorny issues. According to government sources, the controversial issue of cuts to wages in the private sector is all but resolved. It appears that the so-called 13th and 14th salaries will not be cut but the minimum wage lowered significantly.
Talks are now said to be focusing on where the government will cut to make savings worth 1.5 percent of gross domestic product, or three billion euros, that it has pledged creditors.
