Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, struggling to contain a revolt in his left-wing Syriza party, said yesterday that his government would not implement reform measures beyond those agreed with lenders at a euro zone summit this month.

Tsipras faces a tough Syriza central committee session today with many activists angered by his acceptance of bailout terms more stringent than those voters rejected in a July 5 referendum. In a clear warning to party rebels, Tsipras said he could be forced to call early elections if he no longer had a parliamentary majority, and suggested an emergency party congress could be held in early September.

At the same time, Tsipras is under pressure from Greece’s creditors to go beyond the two packages of so-called prior actions passed by Parliament and include unpopular steps to curb early retirement and tax breaks for farmers.

“I know well the framework of the deal we signed at the eurozone summit on July 12,” he told Sto Kokkino radio. “We will implement these commitments, irrespective of whether we agree with it or not. Nothing beyond that.”

We will implement commitments – nothing beyond that

With Greece close to the financial abyss last month, the government closed the country’s banks for three weeks under a capital controls regime, and Tsipras was later forced to make the major concessions on reform and austerity in order to open negotiations on a third bailout worth up to €86 billion. A European Commission spokesman declined to say what additional measures were expected of Athens before the conclusion of the new bailout, although he said more reforms were due before the first aid is disbursed.

Tsipras said Greece’s primary budget balance before debt service would break even at best or show a deficit this year, depending on a financial situation that has deteriorated sharply since the imposition of capital controls on June 28.

The terms for launching the bailout talks that began this week did not include specific fiscal targets but Athens had previously been expected to achieve a primary surplus equivalent to one per cent of annual Greek economic output this year and two per cent in 2016.

Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine reported that the creditors were willing to allow a gentler fiscal path taking account of Greece’s return to recession, provided Athens pursued economic and administrative re-forms more energetically.