The Eurogroup, the European Commission and the ECB welcome the efforts undertaken by the Greek Government to comply with the agreed adjustment programme, in view of a substantial reduction of the deficit in 2010 and the abrogation of the excessive deficit by 2014, an Eurogroup statement said.

"With the substantial execution of the programme achieved over the past 5-6 months, the required adjustment is broadly on track," said the statement.?

The statement praised the efforts made by the Greek authorities to correct the deficiencies in the administrative and accounting systems in parallel with improvements in the statistical system.

The statement welcomed the strong commitment of the Greek government to undertake the required additional measures in the budget for 2011, in order to confirm the ambitious deficit target of € 17 billion next year.

"The Greek government is currently specifying the details of such additional measures in the 2011 budget as well as in the revised Memorandum of Understanding", said the statement.

The statement also stressed in particular the need for further expenditure reductions, as well the acceleration and deepening of structural reforms in particular in the area of taxation, labour markets, business environment, health care and the efficiency of public administration.

The statement expressed the belief that the significant progress made by the Greek government during the course of this year will continue, allowing the consolidation of the Greek budget to remain on track.