US treasury secretary Jack Lew urged Greece yesterday to persevere with tough economic reforms during a one-day trip to Athens designed to demonstrate Washington’s support for the crisis-plagued country.

Greek government officials said Lew’s talks focused on Greece’s fiscal progress before prime minister Antonis Samaras meets US president Barack Obama in Washington on August 8th.

“We recognise the difficult decisions and shared sacrifices of the last few years,” Lew said after meeting Samaras. Greece depends on the US-based International Monetary Fund and the EU for bailout funds. – (Reuters)