Greek deputy finance minister resigns over bailout deal

[ATHENS] One of Greece's two deputy finance ministers resigned from the leftwing government on Wednesday, ahead of a crucial vote on reforms demanded by the country's creditors in exchange for a third bailout.

In a letter to prime minister Alexis Tsipras made public by the finance ministry, deputy finance minister Nadia Valavani, in charge of taxation and overseeing privatisations, said she could no longer be a member of his cabinet. "...It is impossible to continue being a member of the government," Ms Valavani said in the letter, explaining that austerity measures demanded for a third aid programme would set the country on a moribund path.

REUTERS