ATHENS (Sputnik) – The issue was discussed at an extraordinary plenary session on Saturday with the parliament agreeing to authorize the Greek delegation to reach a deal on a third bailout package with the creditors based on the reform proposals that Greece submitted on Thursday.
A few members of Tsipras’s left-wing Syriza party, which has promised to revise Greece’s austerity measures after securing victory in the January parliamentary elections, abstained from voting on the reform program, which includes tax hikes and spending cuts, including in the military sector.
Greece’s new proposal on reforms, needed to secure a third bailout package from its creditors, was received just hours before the deadline for submission was due to expire on Thursday.
According to Tsipras, the new reform program compiled after the referendum falls short of the promises made to the Greek people, but is better on many points than the rejected lender-proposed package.
Greece's new reform proposals will be examined by Eurozone creditors over the weekend.
Greece has received about $270 billion from its main lenders, which include the European Union, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB) under two bailout programs, the last of which expired on June 30th.
Greece’s overall debt stands at about $350 billion.
