Greek political leaders will "very probably" meet tomorrow to decide whether to approve new austerity measures demanded by the country's public creditors for new loans, a government source said today.
The meeting originally to be held today "will very probably be held on Tuesday," the source told AFP, adding: "The negotiations continue, there are still questions to address."
Prime Minister Lucas Papademos was due to hold further talks with the "troika" of lenders - the European Commission, European Central Bank and IMF - later tonight.
The European Commission earlier noted that Greece was already effectively "past the deadline" to get a deal among the coalition partners to reshape the country's economy and slash its debt in exchange for another bail-out.
"The truth is that we are already past the deadline," said Amadeu Altafaj, a spokesman for EU commissioner Olli Rehn. "The ball is in the Greeks' court," Altafaj added.
Altafaj said the government in Athens was engaged in an unprecedented effort, having "lived beyond its means for a very long time".
The leaders of the socialist, conservative and far-right parties supporting the interim administration of Prime Minister Lucas Papademos met for five hours yesterday and then gave differing accounts of what had transpired.
Papademos said they had agreed on the "basic elements" demanded by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, including new public spending cuts, pension adjustments and bank recapitalisation in addition to a controversial labour cost revision.
In contrast, the conservative and far-right leaders said they were rejecting pressure for more austerity measures. Meanwhile, the country's two main unions called a 24-hour general strike tomorrow to protest the new measures.
Cuts demanded by the EU and the IMF reportedly include a 20% reduction in the €750 monthly minimum wage; a 15% cut in supplementary pensions; and 15,000 civil service redundancies this year.
New Democracy and LAOS - two of the parties backing the PM's government - have staunchly opposed further wage and spending cuts, arguing they risk precipitating an even deeper recession and imposing more pain on Greeks.
Euro zone officials say finance ministers told Greece on Saturday it could not go ahead with an agreed deal to restructure privately held debt until it guaranteed it would implement reforms.
At stake is a euro zone rescue loan deal worth €130 billion, pending since October. Altafaj said the latest round of austerity - designed to bring about savings of 1.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) and make Greece's economy more competitive - was required to "put the country back on its feet".
France and Germany have also urged Greek leaders to "live up to their responsibilities" by voting in favour of an unpopular austerity package designed to slash its deficit.
Speaking at a joint news conference after talks in Paris, President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel also said Athens should block its credit interest payments in a special account to ensure it can service its debts.
Merkel warned that Greece can receive no more EU aid to cope with the crisis until it reaches a deal with the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund on tightening up its budget.
"The Greeks gave us undertakings. They should respect them scrupulously. There's no choice, time is pressing. It's a matter of days. Now we need a deal," warned Sarkozy, sending Athens an "unambiguous" message.
Merkel said both she and Sarkozy, leaders of the two largest economies in the euro zone, would remain united and determined in their approach to Greece.
