Greece passes detailed austerity bill
The Greek parliament has passed a vital second bill containing details on the implementation of its austerity plan.
The bill was passed by 155 votes to 136 and opens the way for the next €12bn (£10.7bn) of international bailout funding to be disbursed.
The vote was troublefree despite a debate earlier about the violence that has consumed Athens as Greek citizens oppose changes to retirement age and state benefits for public sector workers.
All individual articles went through with opposition support for privatisation and spending cuts, but one deputy from the ruling PASOK party voted against a part of the bill setting up a privatisation agency to handle the sell-off of state assets.
With Greece perilously close to a default that would cause chaos in financial markets, the European Union and International Monetary Fund had demanded that both bills be passed before it releases the next batch of a bailout package agreed last year.
The Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers is now likely to approve payment of the latest loan installment this weekend.