Greek parliament adopts 2014 budget

Negotiations with international creditors over budget and reforms to resume this week

The Greek government passed its draft 2014 budget with a slender margin over the weekend, following five days of heated debate.

A total of 153 members of parliament voted in favour, with 142 voting against the budget plans late on Saturday night.

The budget envisages €3 billion of cuts in 2014.

The Greek government predicts that the 2013 budget will close with a surplus of €812 million, before paying interest on the country’s debts, and that 2014 will produce an equivalent surplus of almost €3 billion.

The Greek economy is also expected to experience its first year of economic growth after six years of recession. Greece’s gross domestic product is expected to grow by 0.6% in 2014, according to the Greek government’s figures.

But the government remains at odds with the country’s trio of international creditors, known as the troika – the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The troika argues that the government overestimates its revenues in 2014 and needs to make more progress on implementing economic reforms. Officials from the troika are expected to return to Athens this week to continue negotiations with Greek government officials.

A spokesperson from the European Commission said that a full negotiating team would only return in January – indicating that an agreement between the troika and the Greek government may be some way off.