Greece's parliament will today decide whether to impose another round of swingeing austerity measures on its increasingly angry population, in return for fresh international aid.
If Prime Minister Lucas Papademos gets his way, the country's deputies will authorise him to agree the cuts required to obtain a second massive bail-out from the EU and IMF, to the tune of 130 billion euros ($171 billion).
But they also have to approve moves to recapitalise Greek banks, which may involve a degree of nationalisation if they cannot get sufficient private money.
And they must back a bond swap which, after long and tortuous negotiations, has finally been agreed with private creditors.
That is designed to wipe out around 100 billion euros from Greece's 350 billion euro debt, reducing the country's massive debt burden to 120 percent of GDP.
If deputies reject the package however, Greece will not get the money it needs to stave off bankruptcy on March 20, when it has to repay nearly 14.5 billion euros in maturing debt.
The head of the International Finance Institute (IIF), Charles Dallaras, urged Greek lawmakers to pass the painful...
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