Averted Nightmare Scenario : Greek Finance Minister

Athens: Greece has avoided a nightmare scenario by agreeing to the 130 billion euros bailout deal, said Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos as the cabinet has been meeting to finalize reforms demanded by international lenders. He said the deal was probably the most important in Greece”s post-war history. The reforms include huge spending cuts and beefed-up monitoring by Eurozone officials.

Trade unions have called strikes and protests for Wednesday. Greece has already been through a massive austerity program in return for an earlier bailout, and many are angry at the prospect of years more hardship. Opinion polls suggest that the two parties in the coalition, which currently dominate parliament, are facing huge losses at the next election, scheduled for April, the BBC reported. Parties on the far left and far right, which are set to make big gains, are opposed to the bailout deal. The country has just over a week to approve a round of spending cuts of more than 3 billion euros tied to the bailout. At Tuesday”s cabinet meeting, ministers discussed emergency legislation.

A parliamentary vote is expected on Thursday. Trade unions have called for new street protests on Wednesday, and there fears of fresh violence as the public mood hardens, according to the BBC. The agreement was thrashed out over 13 hours of talks involving the international “troika” of the IMF, the European Central Bank and the European Commission. Eurozone leaders hailed the deal as a triumph, and said it had saved Greece from going bankrupt.