Bail-out for Portugal is approved

EU and Greek flagsDebt-hit Greece was bailed out by the EU and IMF a year ago

Eurozone financial leaders are set to meet in Brussels to discuss additional help for Greece’s debt-hit economy.

Issues up for discussion include what conditions to apply to any more financial bail-outs for the country.

Some European leaders are unhappy at what they perceive as limited Greek efforts to raise money by selling government property.

The talks have been overshadowed by the arrest of IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who had been due to attend.

He was arrested Sunday in New York on suspicion of the sexual assault of a hotel maid.

Debt-strapped Greece was bailed out a year ago by the EU and IMF to the tune of 110bn euros (£93bn; $157bn) euros.

Since then it has imposed a series of financial cuts and austerity measures to try to balance its books.

On Friday, EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said Greece must take additional steps to consolidate public finances because it was missing its deficit reduction targets.

The country has a 327bn euros debt pile, or nearly 150% of its economic output.

Germany provided a large chunk of the Greek bail-out cash and wants to see stringent conditions applied before backing any new aid.

Many analysts believe that Greece’s financial troubles are so deep that a Greek default on its debts appears inevitable.

However, the European Central Bank appears determined to prevent this as such a move could undermine the euro.

However, the euro fell to a seven-week low against the dollar and a two-month low against the yen before the meeting.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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