Greek parliament approves anti-poverty law despite creditors' objections

The Greek parliament approved on early Thursday a bill aimed at tackling poverty caused by the country's five-year-old debt crisis.

The move is opposed by international creditors who view it as a "unilateral step" taken by Athens and being "inconsistent" with the Feb. 20 Eurogroup deal which gave Greece time until June to reach a final agreement on the Greek crisis after the four-year bailout expired three weeks ago.

The new law includes regulations on the provision of free electricity, rent support and food stamps to thousands of Greeks in need, as new Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had pledged in the pre-election campaign.

The total cost of the measures is estimated to hit 200 million euros (215 million U.S. dollars) annually.

The bill, which was the first draft law put in vote in the House by the newly elected left-led government after the Jan. 25 elections, was supported by the two parties of the ruling coalition, which jointly control 162 seats in the 300-member strong parliament.

Declan Costello, European Commission's chief representative on the technical team monitoring Greece, has reportedly said the step could be considered as inconsistent with the Feb. 20 Eurogroup agreement.

Greece said the commission was already aware of the legislation, and claimed it was mentioned in the Feb. 20 agreement with its International Monetary Fund creditors to extend Greece's 240-billion-euro (258-billion-dollar) bailout.

Greece undertook the obligation to refrain from adopting any policy that could create new deficits before prior consultation with creditors.

Addressing the parliament a few hours before the vote, Tsipras said his government was committed to society-oriented reforms to ease the pain of a six-year recession, rejecting any "blackmails against Greek people."

He said the government would go ahead with implementing a different policy program compared to past austerity programs introduced by previous governments.

He stressed that by the weekend a second debate on a bill concerning the settlement of tax arrears by up to 100 installments would be held at parliament.

The Greek leader will travel to Brussels later on Thursday for an EU summit and a special five-member meeting with European officials and leaders on its sidelines to seek a political solution to Greece's deteriorating cash shortage issue.

Still shut out of international financing markets and with no international loans until April under the February deal, Greece could run out of money in coming weeks and eventually exit the Eurozone, analysts have warned.

According to the bill, free electricity will be provided to 300,000 poor households which had their electricity supply disconnected after failing to pay their bills.

About 30,000 households were due to receive monthly rent subsidies of 70 to 220 euros (75 to 237 dollars), and approximately 300,000 families will receive coupons to cover food expenses. Endi