European Ministers demand more Greek cuts

Just hours after Greece gave in to painful new job and spending cuts, European ministers declared Thursday that Athens didn't go far enough and demanded more within a week in exchange for a 130 billion euro bailout to stave off bankruptcy.

The ministers gave debt-ridden Greece until the middle of next week to find an extra 325 million euro in savings, pass the cuts through a divided parliament, and get written guarantees that they will be implemented even after the elections of a new government in April.

The new austerity plan, agreed on Thursday, which makes sharp cuts to the minimum wage and thousands of public-sector jobs, ignited fresh criticism from unions and the country's deputy labour minister, who resigned in protest after Greece agreed to the deal.

Even debt inspectors conceded that the new measures would keep the country in a recession for a fifth straight year.
The Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said the government had reached a "strong and credible deal".
A forced bankruptcy would likely lead to Greece's exit from the euro common currency, a situation European officials say would hurt other weak countries like Portugal, Ireland and Italy. Listen