Greek house votes for $4.3 bn spending cuts

ATHENS: Greece's parliament votes on Wednesday on state pension and health-care cuts after the chamber on Tuesday ratified a 3.2 billion package of spending reductions to the 2012 budget. A total of 202 lawmakers voted in favour of the budget law and 80 against, acting parliament speaker Grigoris Niotis said in remarks carried live on state-run Vouli TV on Wednesday after a roll-call vote.

Wednesday's vote on permanent changes to pension funds and health-care spending, demanded by the EU and International Monetary Fund in return for the 130 billion lifeline, will take PM Lucas Papademos one step closer to the country securing a rescue package to avert financial collapse. "Things are and will be difficult," finance minister Evangelos Venizelos said on Tuesday.

"Now, we are gaining a safe framework with the decisions of February 21, with private-sector involvement, recapitalisation of banks but it needs work, work, work, unity, consensus, seriousness."

European governments moved toward a second rescue of Greece on February 21, calculating that the cost of a fresh bailout, which includes a write-down of about 100 billion of Greek debt, is a price worth paying to prevent a financial collapse that could shatter the euro area. Papademos met with his ministers before the vote to adopt a decree on the cuts to wages and pensions, measures that while cutting state spending may also drive the economy deeper into recession.