Greece does not need new austerity measures as long as commitments already made are applied, its finance minister said Tuesday, a day after eurozone ministers called for more sacrifices from Athens.
"New measures are unnecessary as long as the announced measures are applied," Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said at a press conference after his return from eurozone finance minister talks in Luxembourg.
"The measures already taken were deemed impressive and have changed the mood," he added.
Late on Monday, the eurozone ministers demanded that Greece adopt deeper cuts and undertake more privatisations to cover budget shortfalls for 2013 and 2014, and delayed a decision to unblock key rescue loans until later this month.
In Athens meanwhile, according to local media, auditors from the European Union and International Monetary Fund demanded the employment ministry revisit private sector labour agreements in order to lower the Greek minimum wage from the current 750 euros a month.
Prime Minister George Papandreou firmly opposed the demand, public TV channel NET reported.
About 200 protestors occupied the employment ministry Tuesday morning opposing the auditor demands that "threaten worker rights".
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