The meeting came After , the coalition government agreed to 11.5bn euro spending cuts for 2014 during a meeting on Wednesday night.

After the meeting, troika representatives departed apparently satisfied, protothema.gr writes. “Excellent meeting”, commented Poul Thomsen.

“We expect the package to be complete by the end of August”, FinMin said and stressed that a basic goal is “to minimize social impact”. “We must present a reliable package”, he added.

In the negotiations with the Troika which began today, the measures to be tabled according to media reports include:

- Reduction of lump sum in the public sector by 22.6%.

- Removal of the 13th and 14th supplementary pension. In the future, supplementary pensions will not exceed 20% of the main pension. Alternatively, it has been suggested that supplementary pensions should not exceed a limit of monthly earnings of close to EUR 300.

- Imposition of the ceiling on main and supplementary pensions from EUR 2,000 to EUR 2,300. The cap applies to cases where the pensioner receives two main pensions. The possibility is also open of imposing a cap in cases where a pension is granted when the spouse has died.

- Horizontal cuts of more than 10% in pensions exceeding EUR 1,400 euros. The cuts will be in placee from the first euro received and not for the excess amount.

- Imposition of asset and income criteria for social and welfare benefits. Cuts will range between 15% and 20%. – Implementation in public enterprises of the single salary scale applicable to the state.

Difficulties are expected with measures such as the increase of the retirement age from 65 to 67 years and the cuts of EUR 30 in the OGA (farmers’ pension fund) minimum pension.

On August 24 and 25, the PM is set to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin and French President Francois Hollande. Government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou repeated yesterday that the priority is still Greece’s continued presence in the eurozone, according to Kathimerini.

“The goal is for the country to stay in the euro,” he said. “No other alternative, enforceable proposal has been made.”