Greek protests banned as Schaeuble visits

Greek police have banned protests in downtown Athens during a visit by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.

Many in Greece accuse Mr Schaeuble of forcing painful cuts on the country in return for the multi-billion euro bailouts keeping it afloat.

Some 3,500 police will be deployed in the streets of Athens during his visit, while another 3,000 will be on standby.

Mr Schaeuble is visiting Athens for the first time since Europe's debt crisis erupted there in late 2009 to offer Greece €100m for a fund to promote economic growth.

His visit comes hours after the Greek parliament narrowly approved a sweeping public sector reform bill tied to the country's next €6.8bn tranche of EU-IMF loans.

Under the proposed reforms, thousands of public sector workers face redundancy.

The vote was the first major test for Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's two-party coalition since losing an ally over the abrupt shutdown of the state broadcaster last month.

153 politicians out of the 293 present voted in favour of the bill, whose passage was required to unlock nearly €7bn in aid.

The bill includes deeply divisive plans for a transfer and layoff scheme for 25,000 public workers.

The public workers are mainly teachers and municipal police who had triggered a week of almost daily marches, rallies and strikes in protest.

About 5,000 Greeks flooded the street outside parliament as the vote neared.

Some chanted: "We will not succumb, the only option is to resist" and holding aloft black balloons.

Before the vote, Mr Samaras announced Greece's first tax cut since its crisis began nearly four years ago.

The move was a bid to placate protests and an increasingly restive public mood.

"We will not relax," Mr Samaras said in a surprise television address to announce that value-added tax in restaurants would be cut to 13% from 23% starting 1 August.

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