Greek Deal on Cuts Remains Elusive

Wall Street Journal
February 9, 2012

Officials on Wednesday assembled the pieces of a complex debt and bailout deal for Greece, but broad Greek political support for the accord, a key piece of the puzzle sought by the government's international creditors, remained elusive after hours of talks among the main political parties.

A meeting among Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, the parties supporting his coalition, and New Democracy, the opposition conservative party, broke up early Thursday morning without an agreement on economic overhauls sought by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in exchange for lending an additional €130 billion ($170 billion) to the Greek government.

A single issue was the sticking point: cuts in the Greek pension system. Mr. Papademos said after the meeting that the parties would continue to discuss the issue with EU and IMF officials, aiming to reach a final deal ahead of a meeting of euro-zone finance ministers Thursday evening in Brussels.

Early Thursday morning, Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said the pension issue remained unresolved.

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