Greece 'to speed up cost-cutting work'

The Greek finance minister pledges to hasten reforms to cut public spending and reduce the size of the state, saying privatisation plans will start "immediately".

Venizelos said a group of state assets would be transferred on Wednesday to a special fund ahead of their later sale.

The privatisations are intended to to raise €5 billion ($7bn; £4.4bn) this year alone, in a bid to generate funds for the government and reduce subsidization to help it stay afloat.

Greece is cutting spending to try to reduce its vast public debts.

The promises come in the wake of a second €109 billion bailout from the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed upon in July, which followed a previous €110 billion bailout last year.

Greece is receiving the money in instalments, with EU and IMF inspectors continuing to check on the country's progress in cutting costs.

Last week, talks between the inspectors and the government were suspended for 10 days to let Greece compete with what the EU said was "technical work, among other things, related to the 2012 budget and growth-enhancing structural reforms".

Venizelos said the suspension did not mean Greece risked missing its next tranche of funds.

However, the markets were unimpressed, and on Tuesday the interest on 10-year Greek bonds rose to 20%. This is 18 percentage points above the rate that Germany - the eurozone's strongest economy - has to pay on its decade-long bonds.

Venizelos said: "Greece is not the pariah of the European Union, it is not a permanent sore and problem.

"It is an equal, competitive country that has a very serious problem regarding its public debt and fiscal deficit.

"We can and shall overcome this, but not without carrying out the structural reforms in full."

Greece's government debt totals 142.8% of the country's annual economic output.