Greece's Venizelos promises cuts deal 'within hours'

15 February 2012 Last updated at 11:57 GMT

BBC

… leaders of the two main parties have now signed letters…

Greece has promised to "fully clarify" its austerity measures, a day after eurozone chiefs demanded further cuts.

Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said the "few remaining issues" would be finalised before a conference call with eurozone bosses due at 16:00 GMT.

An official told the BBC that 325m euros (£270m; $430m) of extra savings had been made with cuts from defence, health and local government budgets.

Athens is negotiating a 130bn-euro bailout with the EU and IMF.

The deal also includes a provision to write-off a further 100bn euros of debt owed to banks.

Parliament approved a package of austerity measures on Sunday, but eurozone ministers indicated that more detail needed to be given on the cuts.

The ministers also insisted that the major Greek political parties committed to implementing the cuts, regardless of who wins a general election scheduled for April.

Reports say both leaders of the two main parties have now signed letters committing them to enacting the changes.

Mr Venizelos said there were "very few remaining issues" with the austerity package.

But he also warned that some eurozone countries were "playing with fire", hinting that some member states no longer wanted Greece in the bloc.

Without the bailout, Greece will be unable to pay its debts. The next payment is due on 20 March.