The Greek parliament has approved a deeply unpopular austerity bill to secure a second bailout to avoid national bankruptcy amid violent protests throughout the country.
The European Union and International Monetary Funds demanded the reforms in exchange for €130 billion. Greece has to repay nearly €14.5 billion in maturing debt on 20 March.
The bill agreed to early on Monday sets out €3.3 billion in wage, pension and job cuts for this year alone.
Before the parliamentary vote, serious violence broke out on the streets of the capital Athens and spread to other Greek towns and cities, including on the holiday islands of Corfu and Crete; the northern city of Thessaloniki and towns in central Greece.
Cinemas, cafes, shops and banks were set ablaze in central Athens as black-masked protesters fought riot police and threw stones and petrol bombs outside parliament, Reuters reports. Police say 34 buildings are burning.
Those earning the minimum wage are furious that their salaries will now be cut from €751 a month to €600. Civil servants worry they will be in the firing line as 15,000 jobs are cut this year.
PM condemns violence
Prime Minister Lucas Papademos has denounced the worst breakdown of order since 2008 when violence gripped Greece for weeks after police shot a 15-year-old schoolboy.
He condemned the violence, saying it had no place in a democracy.
He told lawmakers shortly before they voted failure to pass the latest bailout package would "set the country on a disastrous adventure".
He said a rejection would threaten Greece's place in the European mainstream, and lawmakers would be gravely mistaken if they rejected the package.
Six members of the Papademos cabinet have already resigned over the heavy pay, pension and job cuts.
Fears violence will get worse
One of the protesters is science professor Yannis Zabetakis, who told Radio New Zealand's Nine to Noon programme the situation could deteriorate in Athens.
"If you see images on Greek television, the flames are getting higher and higher. I don't want to sound dramatic, but I'm really worried about the next few hours and what's going to happen in this city."
Mr Zabetakis says a default is inevitable - whether Greece accepts the austerity measures or not - and it is better for a crash to happen now, rather than later.
