希腊外长：预算危机如同战时形势

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has likened the country's budget crisis to a "wartime situation".

希腊外长乔治·帕潘德里欧将国家的预算危机比作“战时处境”。

Mr Papandreou is due to announce further cuts on Wednesday

He said Greece was at risk of bankruptcy¹ if it did not take radical²（根本的，激进的） extra measures to cut its debts.

The comments come as Mr Papandreou is due to announce further big budget cuts（预算削减） following the pressure from the EU.

The government in Athens has pledged to reduce its deficit³ from 12.7% - more than four times eurozone rules - to 8.7% during 2010.

It also also seeking to reduce its 300bn euros ($419bn; £259bn) debt.

'Blow to wallets'

"We find ourselves in a wartime situation, faced with the negative scenarios⁴（场景，情节） affecting our country," Mr Papandreou told the parliamentary group of his Socialist⁵ Party (Pasok泛希腊社会主义运动).

He said that Greece had to avoid "a nightmare of bankruptcy" in which the state would not be able to pay salaries or pensions.

Mr Papandreou has used some dramatic phrases to describe Greece's fiscal⁶（财政的，会计的） problems over the past few months, but this was his most alarmist to date, the BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens says.

The prime minister was effectively telling Greeks to prepare themselves for another blow to their wallets, our correspondent adds.

On Wednesday, the prime minister is due to announce a series of new austerity measures（紧缩措施） .

These are expected to include a rise in tax, fuel tariffs⁷（关税） and a special duty on luxury goods.

The big question is whether he will have the nerve to slash⁸（大幅度裁减，猛砍） the civil servants' incomes, our correspondent says.

Trade unions have warned the move will be tantamount（等同的，相当于的） to war.

Businesses in Greece are likely to react badly to further tax increases, as they see them as being counter-productive, discouraging consumer spending and contributing to a further downward spiral（螺旋式下跌） , our correspondent adds.