Preview: Greece Faces Troika Inspectors and German Vote Today（在线收听）

EU and IMF inspectors are set to return to Greece today to decide whether Athens has done enough to secure its latest installment of its EU/IMF bailout.

As CRI's Su Yi reports, at the same time, the German parliament is also set to vote on whether to expand the euro zone's rescue fund.

 
The so-called "troika" team of inspectors are set to hold talks with Greek officials to discuss their plans to further slash Greece's budget and hike taxes.

European officials have been threatening to cut off aid if Athens doesn't move faster.

A final decision on whether to release the next batch of 8 billion euros is expected to be announced sometime in the coming month.

Greece is poised to run out of cash by the end of October.

The Greek government has been accelerating its austerity measures to try to meet the terms of the bailout, including a new property tax, which has sparked mass demonstrations across Greece.

Meanwhile, many analysts are now suggesting that Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing the biggest test of her six-year leadership today.

Germany's lower house of parliament is due to vote on whether to allow Germany to take part in an expansion of the existing Eurozone bailout fund.

There is little doubt that the vote will pass.

However, the big question is whether Merkel will see it pass through her own coalition majority.

Juergen Falter is a professor for political science at the university of Mainz.

"Angela Merkel will have a majority tomorrow, a majority for the European safety system. But it may be that she won't have a majority on her own, from her own coalition. And this would mean of course, at least symbolically, that she would be weakened."

The turmoil in Greece, and the political uncertainty at home in Germany, has some in the eurozone's largest economy now questioning their own country's financial stability.

"They did too much (damage), they should have stopped it earlier. Before they spend all that money. Because nothing has been checked, that's the way it looks."

"Germany cannot pay for everything. Just because we still have a prosperous economy. Still. I think we someone should now step on the brakes."

So far 10 of the Eurozone's 17 member countries have shown support for an expansion of the current bailout fund.

For CRI, I'm Su Yi.