The Greek parliament began debating a sweeping austerity plan on Wednesday after signs that the government will succeed in passing the deeply unpopular package, which has been demanded by its international creditors.
With Greece risking bankruptcy if the measures are blocked, parliament is expected to vote in the early afternoon on the mix of spending cuts, tax increases and privatisations agreed under a massive bailout by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund .
Late on Tuesday, the government of Prime Minister George Papandreou received a boost when one of three rebel deputies from his ruling PASOK party backtracked on his previous opposition and said he would vote for the package.
"I have made the decision to vote for the plan because national interests are more important than our own dignity," the deputy, Thomas Robopoulos, told Reuters.
Greece'scentral bank governor, George Provopoulos, warned that a "no" vote would be catastrophic for Greece. "For parliament to vote against this package would be a crime - the country would be voting for its suicide," he told the Financial Times. A parliamentary official said the vote would probably take place between 2 and 5 p.m. (1100-1400 GMT). There were violent clashes in Athens on Tuesday between police and demonstrators against the austerity plan, and the sting of tear gas hung in the air over the debris-strewn Syntagma Square early on Wednesday.
Source: The Economi c Times
Vivek Agrawal
Summer Intern-Fundamental Analysis
DENIP Consultants Pvt. Ltd
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