ATHENS, Feb 16: Greece grappled on Thursday with the notion of direct fiscal control from Brussels as it struggled to finalise a eurozone debt rescue and overcome mounting EU scepticism in time to avert bankruptcy.

As patience ran thin in Europe with Greek reform delays, tempers were rising in Athens towards a perceived toughening of rescue programme conditions and criticism of planned early elections in April.

European Union officials on Wednesday made clear they were stepping up surveillance of Greek state revenues and expenditure, with snap elections a cause for doubt about how reforms will be carried through.

Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager went a step further, warning on Thursday that Greece’s eurozone bailout may be delayed until after the ballot.

“Ideally after the elections, you want to deal with rulers that you know will give their support to the package,” De Jager was quoted in an interview with the influential Dutch financial daily Het Financieele Dagblad.

Prime Minister Lucas Papademos was meeting with his political allies, the socialist and conservative party leaders, his office said, ahead of a cabinet meeting on Friday.

Eurozone leaders for several weeks have been negotiating Greece’s desperately-needed rescue package of 130 billion euros in fresh loans and a write-down on privately-held government bonds worth 100 billion euros to avoid defaulting on debt owed on March 20.

Greek lawmakers approved on Sunday creditor-mandated austerity measures, including a 22 per cent cut to the minimum wage, needed to unlock the rescue funds as rioters set buildings alight in central Athens.

“Soon they will tell us to abolish democracy in return for new loans,” retorted Alexis Tsipras, head of the Left Coalition party and a strong critic of the 110-billion-euro EU-IMF fiscal adjustment programme signed by Greece in 2010.

Citizen’s Protection Minister Christos Papoutsis said additional demands on Greece would constitute “raw blackmail” and a “direct insult” to Greek dignity.—AFP