Eurozone bailout will not end Greece's pain

Eurozone finance ministers will convene in Brussels Monday after weeks of brinkmanship to decide whether to offer Greece its next round of rescue funding to avoid a chaotic default.

The Eurogroup conference, originally scheduled for last Wednesday, was delayed by head of the currency bloc Jean-Claude Juncker because the Greek government had not fulfilled all the bloc's demands.

Juncker, who is also Luxembourg's prime minister, said Tuesday he had not received any pledges from the Greek coalition government about the implementation of its austerity program.

The peripheral eurozone country is expected to face a national default if it cannot make a 14.5-billion-euro (19 billion U.S. dollar) bond repayment due on March 20.

According to analysts, Greece will continue to struggle with its economic woes even with the new 130-billion-euro (170 billion dollar) bailout. They say the funds may still not be enough to bring the country's debt down to a manageable level in the long term.

NATIONAL PROTESTS CONTINUE

Meanwhile, thousands of disgruntled Greeks staged rallies in Athens once again on Sunday, waving banners and protesting the painful austerity measures which were passed by the Greek cabinet a week ago.

Under the protection of riot police, the coalition government approved the austerity program in a 199-74 vote on the evening of Feb. 12 and tens of thousands took to the capital's streets, throwing stones and setting fire to several buildings.

The violent protests reportedly spread to other areas, such as the northeastern city of Thessaloniki.

However, according to a series of recent opinion polls published in local newspapers, a majority of the Greek people strongly support the country's membership in the eurozone, acknowledging that Greece would certainly face a devastating bankruptcy if it quit.

What's more, more than 90 percent of Greeks expressed deep opposition to the interim government, criticizing the two-year austerity and reform drive underway as the wrong way to tackle the debt crisis.

Greece's jobless rate in November rose to a record 20.9 percent, the country's statistics service ELSTAT said earlier this month.

As analysts said, the soaring unemployment has buried a ticking bomb, which is destabilizing the country's social security.