Greeks protest austerity deal with lenders

Thousands of Greeks hit by austerity cuts have taken to the streets in Athens after the government struck an austerity deal with its lenders.

After 12 hours of negotiations at their third meeting in three weeks, eurozone finance ministers and International Monetary Fund officials agreed early on Tuesday to cut Greece’s debts by 40 billion euros ($52 billion) that paved the way for releasing the next tranche of bailout loans — 43.7 billion euros.

On Tuesday, Greek municipal workers marched through the streets of the capital in opposition to job losses demanded by the international lenders.

Members of the main opposition group, Syriza, and other leftist groups also joined the protest.

The protesters chanted slogans against the government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and against Greece’s international lenders.

“The loan installment is not going into the pockets of any worker, the loan installment is going back to those that lent the money, its going back to them for interest payments, and to the banks, so it does not concern us,” a municipal employee stated.

Greece has been at the epicenter of the eurozone debt crisis and is experiencing its fifth year of recession, while harsh austerity measures have left about half a million people without jobs.

One in every five Greek workers is currently unemployed, banks are in a shaky position, and pensions and salaries have been slashed by up to 40 percent.

Greek youths have also been badly affected, and more than half of them are unemployed.

The long-drawn-out eurozone debt crisis, which began in Greece in late 2009 and reached Italy, Spain, and France in 2011, is viewed as a threat not only to Europe but also to many of the world’s other developed economies.