11/08/2011 | Argentina

Alfonsín promises to 'end to indiscriminate spending, restore austerity'

Unión por el Desarrollo Social (UDESO) presidential candidate Ricardo Alfonsín assured that if he were to be elected, his government would “end indiscriminate spending and restore austerity.”

02/10/2012 | Argentina

Greece pushes for austerity deal despite of protests

Greece held a new round of talks with foreign lenders to bridge differences over two billion euros of disputed austerity cuts today, with time running short to clinch a deal before a key meeting of euro zone ministers next week.

17/11/2012 | World

Latin America pledges support for Iberia, warns on austerity

Latin America pledged investment opportunities for recession-hit Spanish and Portuguese companies but warned its former colonial masters drastic cost cutting would only deepen their misery.

24/11/2012 | World

Thousands of Italian students rally against austerity in Rome

Several thousand students and teachers marched through central Rome to protest against austerity measures imposed by Prime Minister Mario Monti's government that have cut into education spending.

02/12/2012 | World

Disabled protest in Spain over austerity measures

Thousands of disabled people and their families marched in Madrid today against benefit cuts, joining Spain's swelling protest movement over austerity measures.

04/11/2012 | World

Workers gear for strike as Greece presents new austerity pack

Greece's government will present a new austerity package to parliament, facing a week of strikes and protests over proposals which must win deputies' approval if the country is to secure more aid and stave off bankruptcy.

05/11/2012 | World

Greece faces 48-hour strike over austerity cuts

Greek workers begin a 48-hour strike tomorrow to protest against a new round of austerity cuts that unions say will devastate the poor and drive a failing economy to collapse.

13/11/2012 | World

Anti-austerity strikes sweep southern Europe

06/10/2012 | World

Greek austerity talks to go on after eurogroup

Greece is making progress in agreeing new austerity measures with its international lenders but needs another two weeks to wrap up a deal, a senior government official said.

08/10/2012 | World

Thousands of Greek protesters tell Merkel she is not welcome

About 8,000 demonstrators chanted anti-austerity slogans and hoisted banners warning Angela Merkel she was not welcome in Greece at a protest, the eve of a visit by the German chancellor.

24/10/2012 | World

Greece says it has been given more time on austerity

Greece's finance minister said that his country had been given more time by its international lenders to implement austerity cuts, an assertion played down by leading European Union officials.

24/07/2012 | World

Portugal PM puts austerity before election victory

Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho pushed his tough pro-austerity line a step further, telling his party he would rather lose at the ballot box than abandon his policy of strict adherence to the terms of an EU/IMF bailout.

28/08/2012 | World

Spanish recession deepens as austerity plan moves forward

Spain’s recession worsened in the second quarter as the government’s austerity push to reduce the euro area’s third-biggest budget deficit and a slump in consumer spending offset growth in exports.

23/09/2012 | World

Greeks feel new austerity measures are unfair

An overwhelming majority of Greeks believe new austerity measures the government has promised its international lenders in exchange for more financial aid are unfair and hurt the poorest sections of society, a poll showed.

21/05/2012 | World

Italy vote to tap austerity anger, gauge political shift

Italy is likely to register a strong protest vote against belt-tightening in local elections that will provide a fresh snapshot of Europe's changing political landscape a year ahead of a national ballot.

19/07/2012 | World

Mass anti-austerity protests on Spanish streets

Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards marched against the centre-right government's latest austerity measures, following more than a week of demonstrations across the country.

21/07/2012 | World

Spanish protests swell as jobless march on Madrid

Hundreds of unemployed Spaniards who had travelled hundreds of kilometres (miles) on foot to Madrid joined protests against Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government and its handling of an economic crisis in the EU country.

22/03/2012 | World

Portuguese strike in protest at austerity measures

Portuguese strikers halted trains, shut ports and paralysed most public transport today in protest at austerity measures and labour reforms imposed as a condition of a 78-billion-euro ($103 billion) EU-IMF bailout.

25/03/2012 | World

Spain's PM denied symbolic austerity boost in local vote

Spain's centre-right People's Party won a regional election in Andalucia but did not secure the outright majority it expected, depriving Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of a symbolic boost to help him push through harsh spending cuts.

01/05/2012 | World

Europeans protest austerity at May Day rallies

Thousands of workers across southern Europe protested against spending cuts in annual May Day rallies today, before weekend elections in Greece and France where voters are expected to punish leaders for austerity.

14/03/2012 | World

Greek cabinet formally approves bailout agreement

Greece's cabinet unanimously approved the terms of its international bailout on Wednesday, hours after euro zone countries formally approved the 130 billion euro ($169 billion) financial package that Athens needs to stay afloat.

15/03/2012 | World

IMF approves 28 billion euro bailout for Greece

The International Monetary Fund today approved a 28 billion euro ($36.7 billion) bailout for Greece, part of a broader international rescue package for the debt-strapped euro zone member.

20/03/2012 | World

Greece receives first tranche of new bailout aid

Greece has received the first 7.5 billion euros ($ 9.9 billion) of aid from its new EU/IMF bailout, with the bulk of the payment going to repay bonds held by the euro zone's central banks, government officials said today.

18/02/2012 | World

Greek cabinet tackles austerity, rescue hopes rise

Greece's cabinet tackled on how to implement austerity demanded by the EU and IMF as a 130-billion-euro ($171-billion)rescue seemed within reach, while the euro zone considered modifying a deal with private creditors to help Athens reduce its huge debts.

12/03/2012 | World

Eurozone okays Greek aid, demands deeper Spanish deficit cut

Euro zone finance ministers gave their final approval to a second bailout for Greece and turned their fire on Spain, demanding it aim for a tougher deficit target this year in order to get back on target in 2013.

13/03/2012 | World

More austerity needed in Greece, EU/IMF report says

Greece will have to slash a further 5.5 percent of GDP in government spending in 2013 and 2014 to meet agreed fiscal targets underpinning the second international bailout for Athens, a European Commission report said.

10/02/2012 | World

Anger in Greece as parliament to vote on bailout

Greek lawmakers will vote this weekend on a controversial austerity bill that Athens needs to avoid a messy default but which is fuelling a domestic political and social crisis that has brought thousands of Greeks out on the streets in protest.

12/02/2012 | World

Greek lawmakers approve austerity bill as Athens burns

Greece's parliament approved a deeply unpopular austerity bill on Monday to secure a second EU/IMF bailout and avoid national bankruptcy, as buildings burned across central Athens and violence spread around the country.

13/02/2012 | World

Greek bond swap seen wrapped up in March

Greece's debt restructuring known as private sector involvement (PSI) will be completed in March and the country will hold elections the following month, the government's spokesman said today.

18/01/2012 | World

Greece, creditors in new push to avoid costly default

Greece goes head to head with creditors today amid rising optimism the country can overcome an impasse in talks and hammer out a bond swap deal to stave off a painful default.

07/02/2012 | World

Greek parties delay bailout talks despite EU threats

Greek political parties delayed yet again making the tough choice of accepting painful reforms in return for a new international bailout to avoid a chaotic default, seemingly deaf to EU warnings that the euro zone can live without Athens.

09/02/2012 | World

Greece deal fails to convince, EU demands more

Greek political leaders said they had clinched a deal on economic reforms needed to secure a second EU bailout, but euro zone finance ministers demanded more steps and a parliamentary seal of approval before providing the aid.

03/01/2012 | World

Greece must clinch bailout deal or face euro exit, says spokesman

Greece faces an exit from Europe's common currency bloc unless it clinches a deal on a second, 130 billion euro bailout with its international lenders, a government spokesman said today.

14/01/2012 | World

Thousands protest against austerity in Romania

Thousands of Romanians staged a third straight day of protests in the capital Bucharest and other cities, as anger over a healthcare reform bill widened into protest against government austerity measures.

17/01/2012 | World

Greeks strike against austerity as EU, IMF visit

Striking Greek workers brought the Athens metro to a standstill today and kept ferries docked to protest against austerity as the country's lenders visited Athens to try to avert a disorderly debt default.

16/12/2011 | World

Italy government wins confidence vote on austerity package

Minister Mario Monti's government won a parliamentary confidence vote on its austerity package today. It now moves to the Senate, where it is expected to be approved before Christmas, probably with another confidence vote.

22/12/2011 | World

Italy parliament seals austerity budget

Italy's Senate passed a vote of confidence in the government of Prime Minister Mario Monti today that put the final seal on an emergency austerity budget rushed through to restore market confidence in the euro zone's third biggest economy.

28/12/2011 | World

Italy short-term debt costs halve at auction

Italian short-term debt costs halved at auction as a new package of budget austerity and an injection of cheap long-term money from the European Central Bank won Rome some respite in thin year-end markets.

05/12/2011 | World

Monti: Without economic plan Italy would risk Greece situation

Italy would have risked a Greek-style economic crisis without the government's new 30-billion euro austerity package, Prime Minister Mario Monti said.

07/12/2011 | World

Italy’s Monti faces unions calls for strikes over Austerity Plan

Italy's new Prime Minister Mario Monti, trying to push through a tough austerity package he says is vital for the country's financial salvation, faced two calls for national strikes and saw a dip in his public support today.

15/12/2011 | World

Italy government calls confidence vote on austerity

Italy's government has called a confidence vote in parliament tomorrow to speed up approval of a 33-billion euro ($43 billion)austerity package intended to restore market confidence in the euro zone's third largest economy.

16/11/2011 | World

Greek gov’t wins confidence vote

Greece's new coalition government, led by Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, secured enough votes to win a parliamentary vote of confidence as expected today.

17/11/2011 | World

Italy: Clashes at protest against 'bankers' gov't'

Thousands of Italians took to the streets in several cities today to protest against what they called a "bankers' government" led by economist Mario Monti, and there were clashes with police.

17/11/2011 | World

New Italy PM wins confidence vote on tough reform plans

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti comfortably won a vote of confidence in his new government on Thursday after promising rigour and fairness in painful reforms to dig the country out of a financial crisis that threatens the entire euro zone.

10/11/2011 | World

Lucas Papademos named Greece’s new Prime Minister

Greece named banker Lucas Papademos as head of a new crisis government on Thursday, ending the country's chaotic search for a leader to save it from default, bankruptcy and expulsion from the euro zone.

11/11/2011 | World

Greece: Papademos, cabinet sworn in

Technocrat Prime Minister Lucas Papademos took office to save Greece from bankruptcy, heading a coalition cabinet filled with many of the same politicians who led the nation into crisis and pushed the euro zone to the brink of collapse.

14/11/2011 | World

Greek conservative leader: 'I won't back more austerity'

The leader of Greece's main conservative group Antonis Samaras said today his New Democracy party would not vote for any new austerity measures and said the mix of policies demanded by international lenders should be changed.

08/11/2011 | World

Greeks to name new PM, ex-central banker front-runner

Greeks should decide on new Prime Minister in the midst of political domestic and international turmoil. A former deputy head of the European Central Bank, Lucas Papademos, emerged on Monday as frontrunner to become Greece's prime minister.

09/11/2011 | World

Greek leaders struggle to name new Prime Minister

Political leaders were scrambling unsuccessfully today to find a new prime minister to lead Greece back from the brink of bankruptcy, after a plan to name a former central banker ran into trouble.

09/11/2011 | World

Greece: Papandreou steps down, doesn’t reveal new prime minister

Greek political leaders have agreed on a new government, outgoing Prime Minister George Papandreou said today, stepping down to make way for a new coalition government. He did not say who would replace him.

03/11/2011 | World

Greek Papandreou chairs emergency talks over plebiscite controversy

Greece's government was on the brink of collapse today, casting doubt on plans to hold a referendum on staying in the euro zone, as European leaders contemplated a Greek exit to preserve their single currency.

03/11/2011 | World

EC: Greece could not exit euro without leaving EU

If Greece decided to leave the euro, it would also have to quit the European Union, according to the terms of the EU's treaties, the European Commission said today.

07/11/2011 | World

Greek leaders struggle to agree on new premier

Greek party leaders are struggling to agree on a new prime minister, despite EU demands that the political class commit itself fast to the nation's financial salvation and end the chaos threatening the entire euro project.

27/10/2011 | World

Greece vows to build on European deal, people skeptical

Greece vowed to press ahead with economic reforms today to capitalize on an EU deal to slash the country's debt, despite anger among its citizens at the prospect of years of painful belt-tightening demanded by foreign lenders.

01/11/2011 | World

Sarkozy, Merkel 'determined' to save Greek bailout plan

Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Nicolas Sarkozy are “determined” to implement the EU bailout plan for Greece. That was the outcome of an emergency phone call between the two chiefs of state ahead of a G20 summit tomorrow.

02/11/2011 | World

Germany urges Greece to stick to the agreed aid plan

Germany's finance minister and other senior officials urged Greece today to stick to the aid plan agreed with the euro zone and IMF and to avoid the dangerous instability posed by the prospect of a referendum on the latest bailout deal.

20/10/2011 | World

Greece adopts austerity bill amid protests

The Greek parliament approved a painful set of austerity measures on, defying violent protests in central Athens and a general strike which shut down much of the country.

25/10/2011 | World

Greek Prime Minister hopes EU summit to turn page on crisis

Prime Minister George Papandreou said today an EU summit could turn the page on Greece's economic crisis, appealing for unity in his Socialist party to approve austerity measures.

27/10/2011 | World

Italians, Greeks skeptical over euro zone rescue plan

A deal struck by euro zone leaders today to contain the region's dangerous debt crisis was greeted skeptically in the two countries most in the firing line, Greece and Italy, with some saying politicians were dreaming.

19/10/2011 | World

Violent anti-austerity protests grip Greek capital

Greek police cleared the square in front of parliament today after clashing with black-clad demonstrators during a mass anti-austerity rally called to coincide with a vote on a bitterly resented new round of belt-tightening.

19/10/2011 | World

Portugal unions to hold general strike on Nov 24

Portugal's biggest unions said today they will stage a general strike next month against austerity measures by the government as it tries to meet budget goals imposed as part of a 78-billion-euro ($107 bln) bailout.

19/10/2011 | World

Greek parliament gives green light to austerity law

Greek lawmakers gave today initial approval for an austerity law cutting wages and hiking taxes, crucial for the country to receive a next batch of bailout funds and avoid bankruptcy.

14/10/2011 | World

Greek government vows to pass cuts in 'fight for existence'

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos pledged today to pass austerity measures in parliament next week in a "fight for our existence," rallying lawmakers despite mounting opposition from labor unions and within the ruling party's own ranks.

17/10/2011 | World

Greek deficit revised up to 10.6% of GDP

Greece's budget deficit reached 10.6 percent of GDP in 2010, the country's statistics office said today, revising the data slightly up from a previous estimate of 10.5 percent of GDP. Greece faces a crucial test this week, when much of the country is expected to be shut down by a 48-hour strike reaching a peak next Thursday.

17/10/2011 | World

Portugal unions propose general strike ahead of key budget draft

Portugal's two largest labor unions proposed today holding a general strike to protest against the government's austerity plans, just as the centre-right administration was to present its draft budget to parliament.

04/10/2011 | World

Anti-austerity protesters block Greek ministries

Greek public sector workers blocked the entrances to several ministries today to protest against austerity measures, disrupting talks with EU and IMF inspectors on a vital aid tranche.

04/10/2011 | World

Euro zone considers making banks pay more for Greece

European finance ministers are considering making banks take bigger losses on Greek debt and have postponed a vital aid payment to Athens until mid-November, setting up a crunch point in the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis.

05/10/2011 | World

Clashes in Athens as workers strike

Police fired tear gas at stone-throwing youths in central Athens today, where thousands of striking state sector workers marched against cuts the government says are needed to save the nation from bankruptcy.

30/09/2011 | World

Sarkozy to meet Merkel in coming days on Greece

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he would meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the coming days in Germany to discuss Greece's debt troubles, calling support for Greece a "moral obligation" for Europe.

01/10/2011 | World

Thousands march in Portugal against austerity

Tens of thousands marched in Lisbon and Porto to protest against austerity measures imposed under the terms of an EU/IMF bailout, the first major rallies since a centre-right government took power in Portugal in June.

03/10/2011 | World

Greek economy stuck in recession, complicates fiscal efforts

The Greek economy will remain stuck in recession next year, underlining the challenge the country faces in creating enough growth to claw its way out of a debt crisis shaking the euro, Greek budget figures showed today.

21/09/2011 | World

Greece unveils new austerity measures, unions react

Greece said it would deepen pension cuts, extend a painful property tax hike and put tens of thousands of workers on notice today to secure a new injection of aid and save the country from bankruptcy.

27/09/2011 | World

Papandreou: 'Greece will meet its commitments to international lenders'

Greece will meet its commitments to international lenders, Prime Minister George Papandreou told German industry leaders today, appealing to his European partners to help him tackle the country's debt crisis.

29/09/2011 | World

Greece resumes talks with auditors amid protests

Civil servants blockaded several ministries to protest against austerity measures as Greece resumed talks with EU and IMF inspectors on an 8 billion euro aid tranche it needs to avoid bankruptcy next month.

22/08/2011 | World

Italy austerity plan begins passage through parliament

Italy's austerity plan aimed at warding off a worsening in the euro zone debt crisis goes to parliament today amid a tug-of-war between critics who want to weaken it and those who say it does not go far enough.

06/09/2011 | World

Italy to hike VAT as strikers protest austerity

Italy's centre-right government promised to hike value-added tax as it bowed to market pressure for more action on its swollen debt and ignored mass street protests against its austerity measures.

19/09/2011 | World

Greece inches closer to deal on aid

Greece hopes to clinch a deal with its lenders on Tuesday for continued aid funding, an official said, after it pledged to take on as much austerity as needed to avoid a default that could trigger deeper turmoil on already shaky global markets.

25/06/2011 | World

Greek ministers urge backing for austerity plan

Greek ministers and policy makers urged parliament today to do its duty next week and pass a deeply unpopular set of austerity measures international lenders have demanded as the price for staving off bankruptcy.

01/07/2011 | World

Portugal's parliament approves austerity programme

The new Portuguese government's austerity programme passed through parliament today after the opposition offered no objections that required a vote. The centre-right coalition government that took over last week has a comfortable majority.

15/07/2011 | World

Italy parliament passes austerity package

Italy's lower house of parliament approved a 48 billion euro austerity package in a vote rushed through to try to calm a financial market storm which has sent Italian borrowing costs soaring in recent days.

23/03/2011 | World

Portugal PM Socrates resigns after austerity rejected

Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said he has submitted his resignation to the president after parliament earlier rejected his minority Socialist government's latest austerity measures in a vote.

05/06/2011 | World

Greek austerity plan draws 80,000 to Athens square

Greek government plans for yet more austerity to satisfy its international lenders brought at least 80,000 protesters on to a central Athens square to vent their fury at the nation's plight. 

14/06/2011 | World

Greek protesters to surround parliament to stop cuts debate

Greek protesters vowed today to surround parliament to prevent deputies from debating new austerity measures on June 15, and unions said they would bring the country to a halt in a national strike.