Greece's conservative government won parliamentary approval last night for a 2005 budget that sets a 2.8 per cent deficit target the government said was "ambitious but attainable".
But earlier the European Commission said Athens had not done enough to bring the 2005 budget deficit below the European Union limit of 3 per cent of gross domestic product, adding it would ask EU finance ministers to take a budget disciplinary step against Greece.
The majority conservative government passed the 2005 budget on a 165-135 vote, with all opposition parties voting against the budget.
The government is aiming to reduce the budget deficit to 2.8 per cent next year from a forecast 5.3 per cent this year, helped by spending cuts and the fact that Olympic Games-related spending will not drain state coffers in 2005.
This year's Olympic Games cost Greece nearly €9 billion, making it the most expensive in the 108-year history of the modern Olympics.
The government paid most of the bill, or about €7.2 billion. The 2005 fiscal plan targets economic growth of 3.9 per cent against an estimated 3.7 per cent this year, with the public debt, among the highest in the euro zone, expected to fall to 109.5 per cent of GDP from 112.1 per cent.