Greece to announce austerity plan

The Greek Cabinet will announce a plan on Wednesday on austerity measures to mobilize spending cuts agreed under its bailout programme, following a meeting in which Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos will present proposals on bringing forward painful austerity measures to appease EU/IMF inspectors. The step aims to save the country from immediate bankruptcy, a government spokesman said. Venizelos will present proposals on bringing forward painful austerity measures to appease EU/IMF inspectors. Venizelos was on call with senior officials from the EU and the IMF late on Tuesday. The inspectors are pushing Greece to accelerate its austerity and reform drive to release a much-needed disbursement of 8 billion euros of bailout funds next month. Greece is trying to convince the EU and IMF to release an 8 billion euro ($11 billion) loan it needs to avoid running out of cash next month despite public anger over austerity measures that are driving Greece into a fourth year of recession.