Greece: Parliament to vote on canceling further pension cuts

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek lawmakers are debating legislation cancelling a major round of pension cuts which were to take effect on Jan. 1, after the country secured the agreement of bailout lenders that the cuts were no longer necessary for a balanced budget.

Parliament is to vote Tuesday on whether to cancel articles in a law passed last year that would impose cuts worth 1 percent of gross domestic product. The measures would have seen 1.4 million of Greece's 2.6 million pensioners face monthly losses of at least 14 percent, according to European Commission estimates.

Greece's third and final international bailout program ended in August, but the country pledged to continue imposing stringent fiscal policies for years in return for lenders' promise to ease repayment terms on existing loans.