Greece under pressure to bolster cuts for debt deal

ATHENS (AFP) - Greece is under pressure from international creditors to beef up a controversial austerity package in return for loan relief, officials said on Sunday as Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said a deal was in sight.

Mr Samaras told Kathimerini daily that the cuts could be approved by Parliament "in a matter of days" after a European summit on Oct 18 that would discuss Greece's economic situation.

He added that by Oct 18, his government and a mission of EU-IMF auditors "will have fully concluded an agreement on fiscal and structural prior actions" required to release 31.5 billion euros (S$50.5 billion) in loans pending since June.

Greece has been in negotiations with the so-called troika of creditors - the European Union, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB) - for the last three months.