Greece to hold crisis talks with eurozone, IMF

Greece's finance minister will hold a teleconference with eurozone and IMF officials at about 1200 GMT on extra steps by Athens to meet conditions for urgently needed rescue funds, the ministry said on Monday. After the teleconference, Greek ministers will meet on "detailing concrete decisions", Minister Evangelos Venizelos had said on Sunday. Venizelos also said on Monday that the eurozone and Greece faced a very difficult week this week. Greek creditors, the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, left Athens earlier this month dissatisfied with progress of the government's austerity drive. Representatives from the lenders visit the capital every three months to evaluate the progress of the plan to stabilise Greece's economy before giving the green light to release the next tranche of the 110 billion euro bailout approved in May 2010. Greek media are reporting the government will likely announce new austerity measures worth about 4.0 billion euros ($5.5 billion) after Monday's talks. Reports said the measures would include a faster and bigger cut in public spending with the introduction of a ceiling on pensions and personnel cuts in parastatal organisations. Venizelos said on Sunday the Greek government will launch a new round of austerity measures to reduce public spending next year as the country is trying to convince creditors its finances are under control. Following a three-hour cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister George Papandreou, Venizelos said the government will enforce "the budget targets set out in the 2011-2015 economic recovery plan".