Washington pressed Greece on July 21 to cut public spending to the bone in return for the latest slice of bailout money, Morning Star Online said.
After a meeting with Greek finance minister Euclid Tsakalotos, US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said Athens needed “to make headway on the next set of milestones due in October”.
He said that included “following through on privatisation plans and moving forward with critical financial sector reforms”.
Greece has agreed to a third bailout, although its eurozone creditors are still trying to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, which has yet to commit any funds to the mandatory loan package of up to €86 billion.
The US treasury secretary also suggested that debt restructuring should be part of an overall plan to get Greece out of the crisis, adding: “I'm not going to take a hard view on where Greece and its institutions should end up. Except that in the end, it has to work.”
Greeks are already sweating under the weight of creditor-dictated cuts to jobs, wages and pensions and wallet-busting tax rises.
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