Among the proposals the leaders did accept is a 22 percent cut in the gross monthly minimum wage.
By DEMETRIS NELLAS
Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece — Crucial talks to discuss austerity cuts in Greece broke down after eight hours Wednesday as leaders of the three parties backing the country’s coalition government failed to agree to demands from international creditors for substantial cuts to state and private pensions.
Papademos left the meeting to negotiate with the ‘troika’ of Greece’s creditors — the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund — on the cuts needed for Greece to reach the fiscal targets prescribed by the troika for 2012. He is joined in the negotiation by Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos and Labor Minister Giorgos Koutroumanis.
A statement issued from office of Prime Minister Lucas Papademos’ office says that the Prime Minister and the three leaders — socialist George Papandreou, conservative Antonis Samaras and right-wing populist Giorgos Karatzaferis — “agreed on all points (presented by the creditors) except one which calls for further discussion and elaboration with the troika.”
At stake is a (euro) 130 billion bailout that is vital if Greece is to avoid bankruptcy as early as late March.
The leaders’ talks hit a snag over a (euro) 300 million gap in cuts needed to reach the 2012 fiscal target. The troika has proposed cuts in supplementary state and private pensions above a threshold level of (euro) 150. Private pensions in Greece are state-guaranteed.
Samaras has made clear his objections, proposing as an alternative a (euro) 300 threshold plus “fiscally equivalent measures.”
Among the proposals the leaders did accept is a 22 percent cut in the gross monthly minimum wage.