Eurozone FM to discuss Greece

Eurozone finance ministers were scheduled to meet in Brussels Thursday evening to discuss a second bailout program for Greece, Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday."The President of the Eurogroup, Jean-Claude Juncker, has decided to convene a meeting of the Eurogroup on Thursday, 9 February 2012, at 6 pm local time," the office of Juncker, also Luxembourg's prime minister, said in a statement.The decision came as the three major political parties of the Greek authorities were yet to approve conditions for a second bailout program offered by the "troika," namely, the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank.Before signing on the 130 billion-euro (about 172 billion U.S. dollars) package, the "troika" insisted the three major political parties in the Greek coalition government make firm commitment to "painful" structural reforms and austerity measures, something the parties had been reluctant to do due to strong public opposition.Without the bailout loans, Greece, with a government debt-to-GDP ratio hovering at 160 percent, would be forced into default or an exit from the eurozone on March 20 when 14.5 billion euro of bonds mature.