Greek government faces fresh strikes against austerity policies

Greek tax collectors led fresh strikes yesterday against the government's austerity measures, just as Prime Minister George Papandreou appeared to have reassured key European partners.

Tax collectors began a two-day walkout, court employees launched a week-long series of two-hour work stoppages and garbage collectors also announced strikes in opposition to spending cuts calculated to save Greece's cash-strapped government €4.8 billion.

"Our members are unduly affected by these austerity measures which constitute a salary cut of €200-€600 per month, the head of local administration staff Themis Balassopoulos told state television Net.

The walkouts come ahead of a general strike on Thursday - the second in a fortnight - called by the country's two main unions, the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) and the civil servants' union Adedy. After taking office last year, Mr Papandreou's socialist government discovered the country's finances were in much worse state than thought, forcing it to introduce emergency measures including sweeping tax hikes and public sector cutbacks.

The cuts have sparked protests across the country and strikes have disrupted air and ground transport, as well as schools and hospitals, hitting economic activity further.

The Greek government is struggling to rein in a debt of nearly €300 billion and has pledged to reduce its budget deficit from 12.7 per cent of output - over four times the allowed EU level - by four points this year.

While the government has not ruled out the possibility it might need to turn to the International Monetary Fund, the country's central bank governor yesterday said Greece would manage to get out of its debt crisis without a bailout.