Discussions on deeper spending cuts between Greece and its international lenders will continue over the coming weekend in Washington, home to International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters, the Greek Finance Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Greece's Finance Minister Evangelos Venizalos and the so-called Troika - the European Central Bank, the European Commission, and the IMF - held a teleconference on Monday and Tuesday.
The talks on a new bailout tranche resulted in impasse, but the Greek Finance Ministry described them as "satisfactory and productive."
During the next round of talks Minister Venizalos will personally meet with creditors in the capital of the United States within the frames of the annual IMF conference. Next week inspectors from Troika will pay a visit to Athens.
In the first eight months of the year, Greece's budget deficit have overshot its 2011 target of 7.5 percent of gross domestic product and the European Union and the IMF have warned they may not disburse the next 8 billion euro tranche from a 110 billion euro bailout if Athens did not stabilize its budget shortfall.
Last week the government promised to increase property taxes to raise some 2 billion euros and meet the 2011 budget deficit target, but the move did not satisfy the creditors.
The IMF demanded on Monday that the Greek authorities should take additional steps, including better tax collection and deeper spending cuts, to reduce budget deficit.
Without another tranche of bailout support, Greece will default on its debt in mid-October.
