The new Greek government presents plans to salvage its debt rescue programme on Friday, aiming to appease EU-IMF auditors and gain some room to renegotiate the tough austerity terms with its creditors.
As international auditors pick through government books, lenders have warned Greece that it is too far short of targets to merit a new deal as investor sentiment again turns sceptical about eurozone prospects.
The International Monetary Fund meanwhile added to the gloom on the global outlook, cautioning that growth could slow even faster if the eurozone crisis drags on, a warning made more urgent by disappointing US jobs data.
Greece must win the confidence of the auditors to obtain the next slice of aid money which it needs to pay current expenditure.
Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras has told reporters that Greece's recovery programme is "off-track in certain areas" after two election campaigns in two months, and that Greece still faces "difficult years ahead."
The Financial Times reported on Friday that Greece had altogether dropped its demand to ease rescue terms, citing the new finance minister.
"We can't ask for anything from our creditors before we get it back on course," it reported Stournaras as saying.
However, a finance ministry source later told AFP: "We are not abandoning the renegotiation claim but certain things need to be done first."
Greek ministers have been instructed to cooperate with the EU-IMF inspectors and refrain from making renegotiation requests, other reports said.
The labour ministry told the auditors Thursday that unit labour costs were down by eight percent and on track towards a 2014 target of 15 percent, the state-run Athens News Agency said.
Many companies have signed new labour agreements since February with salary cuts of up to 30 percent, the ANA said.
Eurozone and EU finance ministers meet Monday to follow up on a summit last week that was presented as a breakthrough in getting on top of the debt crisis but a European Central Bank interest rate on Thursday disappointed markets.
Cyprus meanwhile, which now holds the EU's rotating presidency, complained its banks paid a "heavy price" to enable Greece to write off more than 100 billion euros ($124 billion) in private sector debt, forcing a bailout request to shore-up Cypriot banks.
"This was not a fair way to deal with it," Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly said. "It was a European problem," he said, as Russia said it too had received a bailout request from Cyrpus for 5.0 billion euros.
After sharp gains made immediately after the EU summit, the markets have grown increasingly hesitant, with Spain and Italy's borrowing costs once again rising to dangerously high levels.
Greece said it will on July 10 seek to raise 1.25 billion euros in six-month treasury bills and until the EU and IMF release more funds, the Greek government needs all the money it can find.
Tax authorities this week said they had only managed to conclude about five percent of tax arrears cases, bringing in just 631 million euros.
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras will address parliament after 1530 GMT at the start of a three-day debate culminating in a vote of confidence on Sunday which the three-party coalition is expected to win.
The 61-year-old former foreign minister took office after June 17 elections, promising an austerity-weary nation that he would re-examine salary cuts, tax rises and job losses.
The economy is in the fifth year of recession.
In his speech, Samaras is expected to announce an acceleration of Greece's privatisation drive, to satisfy Brussels and the IMF, while simultaneously promising Greeks that more job and pay cuts are out of the question.
In a letter to EU leaders last week, Samaras -- housebound at the time after major eye surgery -- wrote that Greece must obtain "necessary modifications" to its rescue programme in order to fight off recession and reach its economic goals.
Greece has been rescued twice, and in April benefited from a big write-off of debt owed to private investors.
Under the current terms of its bailout, Greece must adopt further cuts worth 11.5 billion euros ($14.2 billion) by 2013 and reduce the state payroll by 15,000 people in 2012.
The EU-IMF audit is expected to last weeks, with actual negotiations with creditors set to begin only at the end of the month.