Greece to get next bailout payment

Debt inspectors from the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund say Greece is expected to receive the next installment from a 110 billion ($155 billion) bailout fund in July.

The three, known as the troika, made the statement Friday after a near month-long inspection of Greek finances and the reforms it is implementing to meet the terms of the bailout. The review said Greece had achieved "significant progress," but that further measures were needed.

In Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the 17 eurozone finance ministers, said he expected Greece's euro partners to provide more money and that the private sector will be asked to help on a voluntary basis.

Protesters occupy Athens ministry

Earlier Friday, protesters took over the Finance Ministry building in Athens , hanging a giant banner from the roof calling for a general strike, just as Greece was endingnegotiations with the international officials on new austerity measures.

About 200 protesters from the Communist Party-backed PAME union blockaded the entrance to the ministry from dawn, preventing employees from entering. They hung a banner over five storeys of the front of the building and took down the European flag from the top of the ministry, replacing it with their own union flag.

They said they would continue the blockade for the entire day. The protest came as the troika experts were wrapping up a review of Greece's implementation of economic reforms in return for thebailout loans.

The review determinedthat Greece will receive a fifth tranche, worth 12 billion, of bailout loans agreed last year. Greece has so far received 53 billion from last May's rescue deal.

Greek officials were also negotiations on the details of more austerity measures needed to ensure the country can avoid defaulting on its debts. The original bailout plan envisaged the country being able to tap bond investors next year, but with the interest rates on Greek bonds remaining exceptionally high, that appears increasingly unlikely.

Last month, Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou announced remedial austerity measures worth about 6.4 billion for this year, in order to meet the target of reducing the deficit to 7.5 per cent of gross domestic product, from 10.5 per cent in 2010.

Prime Minister George Papandreou was heading to Luxembourg later Friday for emergency talks withJuncker, as well as Luxembourg's prime minister. Juncker recently criticized Greece for being slow in cutting debt and reforming the public sector.

Greece's woes have been compounded by repeated downgrades of its credit ratings. Moody's warned Wednesday that the country had a 50-50 chance of defaulting on its debts.

On Friday, Moody's also cut the ratings of eight Greek banks National Bank of Greece, Eurobank, Alpha, Piraeus, Agricultural Bank of Greece, Attica, Emporiki and General Bank of Greece.

The agency said "the rising likelihood of a sovereign debt restructuring" could directly affect Greek banks by reducing the value of the government bonds they hold as well as eroding their funding sources.