By Robert Stevens
11 February 2012
Following days of talks in which Greece’s governing parties finally agreed to a massive programme of spending cuts, euro zone finance ministers on Thursday upped the ante, demanding an additional €325 million in cuts in exchange for a loan of €130 billion ($170 billion). Without the new loan from the “troika”—the European Commission, European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF)—Greece will default on its debts of more than €350 billion on March 20. On that date it is required to repay bonds of €14.5 billion it previously sold.
With speculation mounting of a possible forced exit from the euro, the unelected governing coalition led by Prime Minister Lucas Papademos is pledging to meet whatever requirements are demanded of it in a parliamentary vote expected to be held Sunday.



