Greece’s lawmakers passed next year’s budget on Tuesday night. The budget extends tough austerity measures that have already left Greeks struggling as the country tries to slash its debts and pull itself out of a severe recession.
With three parties, including the country’s majority socialists and their rival conservatives, involved in Greece’s new coalition government, the budget passed with an overwhelming majority in a midnight vote (258 for and 41 against).
The budget foresees a fourth year of recession in 2012, although it also projects a primary surplus — a surplus excluding interest payments on debt — of 1.1 percent of gross domestic product.
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