Reply #6

(Reuters) - Several thousand Greeks demonstrated Sunday against punishing austerity measures to reduce the country's debt, on the eve of make-or-break talks in Brussels on a 130-billion-euro ($171 billion) bailout to avert bankruptcy.

Greece hopes euro zone finance ministers will sign off on Monday on the rescue package funded by the European Union and International Monetary Fund, Greece's second bailout since 2010.

Sceptics, led by Germany, remain wary about Greece's determination to shrink its debt mountain. Yet failure by Athens to service its debts next month would trigger a chaotic default that would send shockwaves through the single currency.

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos flew to Brussels for last-minute preparations as some 3,000 demonstrators massed on the capital's central Syntagma square.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/02/19/uk-greece-idUKTRE81F0EL20120219