Greek prime minister George Papandreou's new austerity measures have failed to convince other Greek politicians that it would bring about economic recovery. Instead, many fear that, if implemented, they would prove disastrous for a country already reeling under a mountain of debt.

The leader of the Greek conservative party New Democracy, Antonis Samaras, has rejected the measures, saying that these would "flatten the Greek economy and destroy Greek society", the BBC reported on May 30 2011.

Ruling socialist party Pasok, headed by Papandreou, has been struggling to push forward additional reforms which they say would help pull the country out of the quagmire.

Greece will need about 70 billion euro on top of the 110 billion euro that the country is scheduled to receive by the end of 2013. Of those 70 billion euro, the government has proposed to raise about 50 billion euro in privatisation proceeds by 2015.

State holdings in utilities, banks, former telecommunications monopoly OTE and other businesses such as Opap, the lottery and sports betting company, are supposed to be put up for sale, the Financial Times reported on May 30 2011.

Greece received the 110 billion euro bailout in exchange for the promise to cut spending and rein in its budget deficit, a promise that the euro zone governments and the International Monetary Fund intend to hold Greece to.

But with more money needed, European policymakers were negotiating a deal that would lead to unprecedented outside checks of the Greek economy, including international involvement in tax collection and privatisation of state assets, in exchange for new bail-out loans for Athens, Greek conservative daily Kathimerini reported.

The European Central Bank does not favour a restructuring of Greek debt that would effectively signify sovereign default, but ECB objections could be overcome if the rescheduling was structured properly, the Financial Times said.

So far, Greece has missed its deficit reduction targets, which means that the chances of it borrowing money next year were slim.

The IMF has asked for the EU to provide for any shortfall, if necessary through a second bail-out package, a measure that would be very unpopular in other European countries, most notably Germany, the BBC reported. The IMF would will not lend more money to Greece unless it was assured that financing for the 2012 gap was secured.