Greece completes talks with lenders on next bailout tranche

Debt-laden Greece has completed talks on a further bailout tranche with the troika of international lenders, including the European Central Bank, the European Commission, and the International Monetary Fund, Deputy Finance Minister Pantelis Oikonomou said on Monday. "To the extent in which we have managed to convince them (the creditors) that there is a deeper (than expected) recession, I believe, we have found a solution. We have essentially concluded the talks. I believe, we have closed everything," Oikonomou told Greek TV channel Mega. The creditors' mission will visit the country twice more before beginning to draft their report recommending whether to grant Greece the next 8 billion euro tranche of a 110 billion euro bailout. Greece confirmed late on Sunday it would miss its 2011 and 2012 budget deficit targets, due to a deeper recession than previously forecast. Hitting the deficit target was the creditors' main condition for providing the next tranche. The troika quit Greece in September, after the Greek government failed to convince them it was doing enough to reform the economy to deserve further payments. But they returned to Athens last week after Greece announced deeper austerity measures, including major redundancies and budget cuts. Late on Sunday the Greek authorities also promised to proceed with an austerity plan, including placing 30,000 state workers in "labor reserve" by the end of this year, a prelude to their further dismissal.