DEBT FINANCING. Greece beat new property tax to reduce the deficit

Thessaloniki, Greece (AP)-Greece on Sunday slammed a new tax on real estate connect a 2011 budget hole, please international creditors and secure a new loan tranche as key concerns mounted in Europe throughout its euro-zone members.
Inspectors from the EU and the IMF are due in Athens this week to hear how the Government intend to overcome delays and lost before approving budget targets a portion of 8 billion of its rescue of 110 billion, key to the survival of Greece.
Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, said the Cabinet agreed the measure to raise about 2 billion missing from government coffers and to achieve the objective of the 2011 budget deficit, estimated at around 8.1%.
"It is the only measure that can be applied immediately and produce results quickly because it does not depend on the tax collection mechanism," he told reporters, adding that the tax would be charged through electricity bills.
Prime Minister George Papandreou, who chaired the informal cabinet meeting in Thessaloniki on Sunday, said in a speech late Saturday night, he was determined to do whatever it takes to save Greece from bankruptcy and keep it in the euro.
He was answering renewed talk in capitals of Greece will meet the bailout plan and stay in euro block may be wavering.
EU inspectors and IMF repeatedly said Greece to avoid more tax measures suffocating economy and concentrate on structural reforms and spending cuts, including shrinking the public sector large and inefficient.
Yannis Revithis, head of the Association of Realtors in Athens, "property of taxation is the easiest solution for the revenue," said the Greek TV. "But the real estate market cannot accommodate any more taxes".
The tax will vary between half and 10 euros per square metre of construction and will be in force for two years, said Venizelos.
Inspectors, known as the troika, interrupted a visit on day 2 of September, after a row over the size of the deficit and cause. Athens blamed it on a larger than expected recession and Venizelos said on Sunday the economy would shrink by about 5.3 percent this year.
But the troika said it was only a small part of the reason and called for urgent steps in privatisation, shutting down the State organizations and reducing the number of civil servants.
(Written by Dina Kyriakidou; Edited by David Cowell)

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