EU finance ministers have suggested setting up a new European institution that could offer IMF-like assistance to euro zone countries that hit financial difficulties. Papandreou said he would welcome this, but saw it as a longer term project.

"This does not help us deal with any short term problems the country might have," he said.

Markets are closely watching whether the Greek public will accept the government's belt-tightening or take to the streets.

Police said 12,000 protestors took part in marches in the capital Friday, but so far the demonstrations have been much more low key than violent riots seen in 2008.

Opinion polls at the weekend showed Greeks were roughly divided over the tax hikes and savings unveiled last week.

However they also showed strong opposition to some of the main elements of the austerity package, including a rise in value added tax (VAT), a 30 percent cut in public sector holiday bonuses and a pension freeze.

ne survey from Alco showed that 86.2 percent of respondents considered the new cuts unfair and that 64 percent were unconvinced Papandreou's latest package would pull Greece out of its debt crisis.