Greece to adopt new austerity measures to save 6.6 bln euros

Greece will adopt further austerity measures aimed to bring 6.6 billion euros to state coffers, the Finance Ministry said in a statement, referring to the budget project, approved by the country's cabinet of ministers on Sunday. The project will be submitted to the Parliament on October, 3. Greek authorities also said the country would fail to meet 2011 and 2012 budget deficit targets agreed by the troika of international lenders, including the European Central Bank, the European Commission, and the International Monetary Fund. The budget deficit will reach 8.5 percent of the gross domestic project this year, missing a 7.6 percent target. The deficit will be cut the next year to 6.8 percent, but still will be higher than the 6.5 percent bailout target. Crisis-hit Greece is struggling to get in October the next 8 billion euro tranche out of a 110 billion euro bailout from the troika, which left the country in September, saying they could not provide in October the next tranche if Greece failed to meet the agreed budget deficit target. The lenders returned in Greece earlier this week as Greece had announced new austerity measures, including large redundancies, wage and pension cuts.