Greek 2012 budget passes in Parliament

Greek lawmakers approved on Wednesday an austerity budget submitted by the debt-laden countrys coalition government with 258 of the 300 member parliament voting in favour.The three parties in the coalition government backed the budget, as well as some smaller parties, while the left wing Syriza party and the Communist Party voted against.The 2012 budget has been prepared and will be executed during a particularly difficult period for Greece. It is a crucial period because our actions will determine the economic future of our country, not just for 2012 but for the the entire decade....With the successful execution of the budget Greeces obligations will be fulfilled, the countrys international credibility will be restored, and substantial preconditions will be created to overcome the crisis and rescue the economy, said Prime Minister Lucas Papademos before the vote.The passing of the budget comes ahead of a crucial EU summit on Thursday and Friday to resolve the wider European debt crisis.Greece is aiming for a surplus in the 2102 budget and is seeking to reduce the deficit from a current nine percent to about 5.4 percent of GDP with the help of a debt swap. To achieve a surplus interim Prime Minister Lucas Papademoss government must begin fighting rampant tax evasion, start privatisations and shrink the public sector. Last week the government began laying off civil servants as promised. This month it has arrested tax evaders on an almost daily basis.Privatisations will be one of the main tasks for the government next year, a process that has been slow-going and lacking investors.Greece is in a deep recession, partly brought on by the economic measures taken that have stifled consumption. The government has said it does not expect to impose further wage or pension cuts on the public as with the first austerity program connected to the 2010 bailout loan if the current measures are implemented successfully. The last time Greece managed a primary budget surplus was in 1993-2002, just after it joined the euro zone in January 2001.Hundreds of masked protesters hurled petrol bombs and clashed with Greek police outside parliament before the vote on Tuesday. The violence erupted as youths, mainly students, marched to mark the police shooting of a student in 2008, which led to the worst riots in decades.Most Greeks expect their economic situation to worsen next year, but they want to stay in the euro zone, a poll showed on Monday.