Agreement expected today

Greece’s three main pro-euro parties neared a deal to form a coalition today that will have to deal with a devastating economic crisis and try to renegotiate an unpopular EU-IMF bailout deal.

New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras who won Sunday’s elections has been holding talks with the socialists Pasok and the small Democratic Left party under intense pressure from financial markets and world powers to move quickly and get Greek reforms back on track.

Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos said yesterday that a coalition agreement was possible “by midday tomorrow” – just hours before a deadline for conservatives New Democracy to form a coalition runs out.

Mr Venizelos, a former finance minister, said the “only practical solution” was for a coalition with New Democracy, Pasok and the Democratic Left.

Mr Samaras, 61, a US-educated former foreign minister, is to be prime minister, Greek media reported, saying there had been a deal between the parties. He will have to contend with a surge of public anger over the austerity imposed by the bailout.

The results of Greece’s most critical elections since the end of military rule in 1974 have eased fears of an immediate euro exit that would have shocked the global economy but left a stand-off with foreign creditors on the card.

While promising to respect Greece’s commitments, Mr Samaras also wants an easing of the bailout “so the Greek people can escape from today’s torturous reality”.

Mr Venizelos, who led some of the bailout negotiations in February as finance minister, said the terms of the loans were “unfavourable,” adding: “Many of the terms were imposed on us.”

He noted that a “national negotiation team” would seek to revise the agreement with Greece’s international creditors.