MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti) - The Greek parliament approved on Sunday a package of laws, including mass civil service job cuts, to secure the next tranche of $8.8 billion bailout loan from Eurogroup.
The package of bills was supported by 168 lawmakers out of the 292 present at the session, while 123 parliamentarians voted against the set of measures. The required amount of votes to pass the legislature in the Greek parliament is 151.
According to Xinhua news agency, one of the adopted laws opened way for layoffs of some 15,000 civil servants by 2015, including 4,000 this year.
Germany has played a leading role in securing financial assistance for Athens from EU member states and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Greece has largely remained afloat by loans since May 2010.
In exchange, the lenders had insisted that Greece enact a series of tough economic reforms, including spending cuts and tax hikes.
