Greek MPs say Yes to austerity budget

MPs voted in the early hours by 167-128 for the budget, which cuts another €9.4bn (£7.5bn) off wages, benefits and pensions, increases taxes and raises the retirement age to 67 from 65.

A crowd of over 20,000 protested outside parliament at the measures, which two-thirds of Greeks say they oppose.

The cuts are likely to strike a further blow at the collapsing economy, which is predicted to shrink by at least 4.5 per cent this year.

Most of the new cuts were approved on Wednesday and the budget vote was expected to pave the way for the so-called troika - EU International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank - to release fresh funds.

Without more cash Greece says it will run out of money on Friday.

But today's meeting of eurozone finance ministers was not expected to be able to strike a deal - despite a "positive" troika report - because it would need to be approved by national parliaments.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras claimed that the "sacrifices" would be the last the country would have to make.

But officials admitted that they might need to cut even more if the government raises less than it hoped from selling off public assets to venture capitalists.

Opposition leader Alexis Tsipras of the left-wing Syriza coalition warned that the cuts would leave Greeks unable to buy food, fuel or medicine this winter.

He said the government should abandon all austerity measures and write off the debt, but he didn't explain how he reconciled this with support for the euro and EU, which is demanding the cuts.

Syriza came first in a weekend poll, with around 23 per cent compared to 20 per cent for Mr Samaras's New Democracy.

Greek Communist Party support rose to nearly 6 per cent.

But the same poll showed a big boost for the fascist Golden Dawn, which leapt to third place with 10.4 per cent. Rights campaigners have warned that the thuggish party is behind a huge recent increase in racist attacks.