The government’s pension system reform plans have met significant opposition in Greece, both in Parliament and in the streets, as demonstrations against the proposal are escalating all over the country.

On Thursday the technical teams of the institutions had a teleconference with the Ministry of Labor and requested that the government takes even harder measures than the ones already proposed. Reports suggest that they have called for stricter wage and age criteria, in relation to the national pension.

It was also rumored that the institutions have demanded drastic cuts in main pensions, something which the government has resisted and publicly claimed it will not do. Ministry officials later told the Athens-Macedonia News Agency that the teleconference was exploratory in nature and that in no case were drastic pension cuts requested.

According to reports the International Monetary Fund is also in favor of slashing main pensions, while the European Commission has expressed its reservations over the government proposal to raise insurance contributions. The European Central Bank on the other hand has focused on the fiscal result of the government plan.