Greece adopts more austerity measures in bailout bid amidst violent protests

Greek politicians have approved more pension cuts and tax hikes sought by international lenders to unlock another bailout, as angry demonstrators protested outside parliament against the new round of austerity.

The measures, which entail €4.85 billion in cuts to be implemented in 2019 and 2020, were backed late on Thursday by all 153 members of parliament in Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' ruling coalition after a fiery debate.

All opposition MPs present in the 300-seat chamber voted against the unpopular package.

The move comes just days before finance minister Euclid Tsakalotos heads to Brussels for Monday’s Eurogroup meeting with his eurozone counterparts.

Finance ministers at the Eurogroup meeting are expected to sign off on the release of around €7 billion, which Greece needs to meet debt obligations due in July. Greek debt currently stands at nearly 180% of gross domestic product.

Center-right opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis attacked Tsipras for committing to further austerity measures, which he had pledged to oppose.

"You've become the best advertisement for austerity in Europe," Mitsotakis said, calling Tsipras to resign.

"Let the people decide with their vote who can lead the country out of the crisis and how," he said in his speech to parliament, renewing his call for early election.

For his part, Tsipras dismissed the criticism of Mitsotakis, whom he called a "false prophet", and said it was now up to the creditors to make good on their promises.

"We deserve and we expect from Monday's Eurogroup a decision regulating debt relief which will correspond to the sacrifices of the Greek people," he said.

Speaking after the vote, Tsipras said Greece had met its commitments on reforms and now expected lenders to agree to debt relief.

"It's their [the lenders'] turn to fulfil their commitments, just like we did," he told reporters.

As MPs debated, a last minute protest outside the parliament, called for by composer Mikis Theodorakis, drew about 10,000 people. Protesters quickly turned violent, as hooded youths threw petrol bombs at officers who responded with tear gas.

Figures released earlier this week showed that Greece had fallen back into recession for the first time since 2012.

The country's gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.1% in the first three months of the year after shrinking by 1.2% in the final quarter of 2016, the Eurostat figures showed.