Troika tests gov’t nerves as budget rift persists

Government officials were seeking ways to bridge a rift with the country’s international creditors over the weekend after the budget for 2015 was submitted to Parliament without the troika’s approval. Sources, however, indicated that Athens would accept no more austerity measures and Prime Minister Antonis Samaras was said to have telephoned some of his eurozone peers in a bid to seek a political solution.