MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

The Euro edges up as Greece votes austerity plan: Germany not convinced

Ugly rioting with tens of injured in Athens as police clash with protestors

The Euro edged up on Monday after Greece's parliament approved an austerity bill that put the country a step closer to securing much-needed funds, though market players worried about more hurdles before lenders seal a bailout deal.

Violent street protests in Athens and the departure of six Greek cabinet ministers underscored the difficulty of implementing unpopular steps.

Burning buildings, tear gas, petrol bombs – mayhem broke out in central Athens while lawmakers in parliament grappled with the future of Greece. At least 80 people were reported injured – 30 of them police officers – angry protesters set around ten buildings on fire.

During the day an estimated 80,000 demonstrated outside the parliamentary buildings, but as night fell a small group of around 200 took on police in running battles.

Witnesses said the air around parliament was thick with tear gas as police tried to take back control.

Euro zone finance ministers also expect Greece to explain how 325 million Euros of this year's total budget cuts -- as yet unspecified -- will be achieved before it agrees to the bailout in a meeting on Wednesday.

Highlighting exasperation felt by Germany, the country's finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said in an interview with German newspaper Welt am Sonntag that Greek promises on austerity measures are no longer good enough because so many vows have been broken.

There are also concerns that hedge funds may have built up sufficiently large holdings of Greek bonds to scupper “voluntary” bond swap deals.

On the other hand, the Euro is likely to draw some support from signs of stability in other Euro zone countries, with the spread of Portuguese bond yields over German bonds slipping to one-month lows.

Fear of a major banking crisis in Europe has subsided as the European Central Bank is offering to provide an unlimited amount of three-year loans for the second time later this month after the first such operation in December.

US data showed speculators have been cutting their net Euro short positions for the past two weeks with their net euro short position falling to 140.593 contracts last week from a record 171.347 contracts two weeks before.