'Troika' to decide whether to release 8b Euros of aid for Greece

A "troika" of European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund inspectors returned to Greece on Thursday after quitting the country unexpectedly on September 2nd, accusing it of not taking strong enough measures to deserve a bailout.

Without new funds, Greece could run out of cash to pay state wage and pension bills as soon as next month. A Greek default on debt repayments could wreck the balance sheets of banks across Europe and unleash a crisis in the global financial system.

To lure the inspectors back, the government announced more tax hikes, wage cuts and mass-layoffs last week. Labour unions say the Greek public - in its third year of plunging living standards - cannot take more pain and the harm to the economy from austerity is making the crisis worse.

Dozens of finance ministry employees gathered in front of the finance ministry on Thursday morning, shouting: "Take your bailout and leave". Civil servants also blocked the entrances to the interior, justice, labour, health and agriculture ministries, a police spokesman said. Plans to step up the pace of strikes and protests over the next few weeks could rattle lawmakers, whose approval is needed to enact the austerity measures. 

Authorities fear a repeat of bloody riots which took place in June in Athens's central Syntagma square. Police fired tear gas at protesters outside parliament during a tax vote this week.

The EU, IMF and ECB inspectors are set to comb through new austerity plans for at least a week, but most analysts expect they will approve the new, 8-billion euro tranche of aid.

Bailing out Greece has become a tough political proposition for other euro zone leaders to sell to their own voters.

A Greek official said Prime Minister George Papandreou, who has already taken his case to Germany this week, might go to Paris on Friday. French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said the visit was not yet confirmed.