Greek parliament approves budget

The Greek parliament has approved the country's 2013 budget, a package of cuts and austerity measures seen as vital to the government's efforts to persuade international creditors to unlock fresh bailout funds.

The approval, which secured a comfortable majority, comes just days after a separate package of spending cuts and tax hikes over the next two years scraped through the 300 member parliament with a far narrower majority.

This latest vote paves the way for the payment of some $40bn of bailout funds to Greece.

Mark Lowen reports.