Papademos and the three party leaders “agreed on all the points of the program with the exception of one which requires further elaboration and discussion” with the so-called troika of lenders, according to an e-mailed statement from the premier’s office in Athens. “This discussion will occur immediately so that it can be completed in light of the meeting of euro area finance ministers” later today.

Antonis Samaras of the New Democracy party said talks on a new financing agreement for Greece stalled over a dispute on cutting pensions.

“There is only one issue, that of pensions, to be resolved,” Samaras told reporters in Athens in comments televised live on state-run NET TV. “The talks will continue.”

Officials of the so-called troika, representing the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, sped into the premier’s offices in Athens as soon as the three party leaders departed, according to a live broadcast on state-run NET TV. The unexpected hitch came after an eight-hour meeting that was due to complete a package that’s been on the table since July.

The Greek government, facing a 14.5 billion-euro ($19.2 billion) bond payment on March 20, is struggling to arrange financing to avert a collapse of the economy, risking a new round of contagion in the euro area.

The leaders have effectively agreed on all the issues except for that of cuts to pensions, Panos Beglitis, a spokesman for the Pasok socialist party, told reporters after the meeting. He said his party was opposed to cuts in main pensions.

To contact the reporters on this story: Maria Petrakis in Athens at mpetrakis@bloomberg.net; Marcus Bensasson in Athens at mbensasson@bloomberg.net; Natalie Weeks in Athens at nweeks2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net; Stephen Foxwell at sfoxwell@bloomberg.net

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-08/greek-bailout-talks-stall-on-pension-dispute-talks-to-resume-imminently.html

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