Greece approves cuts of €6.6bn

GREECE last night approved €6.6 billion worth of austerity measures to meet revised deficit targets and satisfy the terms of a European Union-led rescue.

The measures will help reduce the budget deficit to 6.8% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or €14.7bn, from 8.5% of GDP this year, the Finance Ministry said.

That compares with 6.5% under agreements with the EU, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank (ECB) — the so-called troika — to secure the emergency loans needed to prevent a default.