Troika creditors to return to Greece Tuesday

Officials from Greece's main creditors will return to Athens on Tuesday, the European Commission said, in a bid to push forward talks on releasing 1.0 billion euros ($1.37 billion) for the recession-hit country. The officials from the so-called Troika -- comprising the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund -- will "try to close as many open subjects as possible," Panos Carvounis, head of the Commission's office in Greece, told AFP. However, he warned: "It is unlikely they will be able to close them before the end of the year." On Saturday, Greece's parliament approved a tough budget for next year, aimed at ending the country's deep recession, despite continued differences on fiscal policy with the Troika. The budget measures included a further 3.1 billion euros in spending cuts from an economy already suffering from successive austerity measures Just before the budget was passed, the EU announced they hoped to clinch a deal with Athens in January on the unblocking of the next tranche in aid, which has been pending for months. Athens had hoped they could come to an agreement before the end of the year, as they take over the EU's rotating presidency in January 2014. But the creditors and the Greek government disagree on the level of a forecasted financing gap for 2014 and the measures needed to cover it. Discussions are reportedly stumbling on the issue of a new property tax, property auctions, layoffs in the state sector and the slow pace of privatisation. Some 240 billion euros have been injected into the national coffers since the EU and IMF intervened in 2010.